BRISTOL – This Monday, it’s state tournament time for both the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern boys soccer programs.

And each team proved it deserved a chance to be a postseason performer – starting in first round play.

Eastern bounced back from a tough 1-3 start to open the season to win three of its final four matches, helping punch its playoff ticket.

Big wins at Plainville (4-1), Wethersfield (6-1) and then spinning Central (2-0) to open November proved that the Lancers are heading in the right direction, just in time for postseason play.

“We have gotten better,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “We’ve had a lot to work on. We’ve had to plug in players and really, this is the first time we’ve been pretty much healthy.”

Connor Cyr played a little bit in the previous game and has missed most of the season while offensive-minded Connor Policarpio is wearing a clear face mask that several athletes before him have donned to keep competing.

And getting healthy as the state tournament approaches is a huge deal for this Lancers team.

The program, ranked 24th overall, is ready to make a run and off a very tough slate of games – including a 1-0-1 showing versus a very good Bristol Central program – the reward is a Class L CIAC Tournament showdown against No. 9 East Lyme (10-3-3).

“I’m thrilled for the kids,” said Sweet. “They’ve worked hard. They’ve been down. Just like last year, it’s the toughest schedule we’ve ever had. And they’ve responded. I can’t complain.” 

Central also did extremely well this season despite losing several seniors from one of the programs best campaigns in recent memory.

Central finished the season at 6-8-2 – earning the No. 27 seed in the Class L bracket.

“We did some goals at the beginning of the year and one of the goals was to make it to the state tournament,” said Central coach Nate Jandreau. “I would have liked to beat Eastern because that was another [goal] but the season still goes on.”

The Rams will square off against No. 6 Middletown (11-3-2), playing the program for the third time this season.

The Blue Dragons have beaten Central twice this year – squaring away wins over the program to open the campaign on September 8 (3-0) and then again on October 27 (4-2).

Beating the same squad three times in the same season is a tall order and the Rams will be looking to break through against the Blue Dragons for the first time.

Expect some huge efforts out of keeper Harrison Ross, who was simply tremendous against Eastern last week despite the loss on November 1, along with the offensive play of Joe Davila and Frank Palma.

“We’ve had a couple games where we’ve had to respond to adversity whether it was players out or we were down a goal and we’ve come back and won and so on,” said Jandreau. “This [loss against Eastern] is just another one of those adversity type moments where it’s ‘how are you going to respond?’ The hardest part of this is you have to wait a week, you’re going to have to get on a bus and travel, and we’re going to play a good team.”

“We’ve beaten good teams this year, we’ve played nothing but good teams this year, so hopefully we respond.” 

CIAC BOYS SOCCER TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS

CLASS L – FIRST ROUND

No. 24 Bristol Eastern (6-7-3) at No. 9 East Lyme (10-3-3)

No. 27 Bristol Central (6-8-2) at No. 6 Middletown (11-3-2)

Both matches commence on Monday, November 7 at 2 p.m.

Second Round Possibilities

The Eastern/East Lyme winner takes on the victor of No. 8 Notre Dame-West Haven/No. 25 Windsor.

The Central/Middletown winner battles the victor of No. 11 Abbott Tech/No. 22 Rockville.

The Lancers are in the same bracket as top ranked Cheshire (11-2-1), a quarterfinal round showdown possibility, while the Rams are in the mix against third rated Bethel (10-1-5).