MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the
Brockton (Mass.) Boxers have officially been named to the 13th Annual MaxPreps Soccer Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its seventh year honoring soccer.
This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For soccer, only 20 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 34,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Boxers ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!
In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Longmeadow 5-3 in the
MIAA Division I boys state soccer championship on Saturday, Nov. 17 marked the completion of an incredible 23-2-2 season — and earned Brockton an invitation to the Tour of Champions.
When Leonardo Teixeira wasn't scoring goals in the second half of the title contest, he was giving aid to one of his teammates and rallying the Boxers from a 2-0 halftime deficit. The junior scored three goals and assisted on two more, all in the second half, as Brockton went on to win its first boys state soccer championship in school history.
Teixeira scored on a rebound eight minutes into the second half and tied the game with a header eight minutes later. After gaining possession of a Teixeira header, Jonathan Rodrigues scored the go ahead goal in the 57th minute. Teixeira, then, put away the game-winner with a 30-yard shot moments later. Longmeadow pulled within 4-3, but Riven Rodrigues got into the record books when he scored an insurance goal following a Teixeira pass.
Brockton opened state playoff competition with a 4-1 triumph over Silver Lake Regional. Then, following a 1-0 win over Needham, the Boxers upended St. John's Prep 2-1 to set up the championship match with Longmeadow. Herminio Furtado's club outscored its playoff competition 12-5.
The Boxers opened the season with 9-0 and 5-1 wins over Rockland and Bridgewater-Raynham respectively. Then, following a 2-2 draw with Mansfield, Brockton took care of Dartmouth 3-2 and Rockland 10-1. Following a 2-1 loss to New Bedford, the Boxers reeled off 10 straight wins before settling for a 1-1 draw with New Bedford. Furtado guided Brockton to wins in nine of its final 10 contests to end the season. The Boxers outscored their competition 121-25 on the year and posted 10 shutouts. Brockton allowed just seven opponents to score more than one goal in a game.
Having won their final six matches of 2017, the Boxers set themselves up for some pretty high rankings at season's end. Not only did Brockton earn the No. 1 spot in the
MaxPreps Massachusetts Division S-1 Rankings, the Boxers are the top team in all of
Massachusetts. Brockton is ranked No. 54 in
MaxPreps National Rankings!
These incredible season achievements have earned the Brockton Boxers an invitation to the 13th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the gymnasium as we celebrate with the boys soccer team, coaching staff, students and fans on Friday, Jan. 12 at approximately 6:30 p.m. during halftime of the boys basketball game.
For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the
MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.
