Peabody Girls' Playoff Journey to Defend State Title Starts Sunday

The state champion Lady Tanners head into the Division I North playoffs this weekend to defend their title on a 17-1-0 record, their perfect streak broken only by Acton-Boxborough.

Peabody High girls' soccer had amassed an impressive 38-game streak before losing 2-1 to the Colonials two weeks ago, and as luck may have it, the Tanners' first opponent in the tournament may very well be Acton-Boxborough.

Seeded No. 1 for the third year in a row, and still ranked near the top nationwide, the Tanners host the winner of Saturday's preliminary round contest between Billerica and Acton-Boxborough on Sunday (6 p.m.).

Meanwhile, boys' soccer (seeded 12th) is headed to the postseason on a 9-4-5 record and faces Acton-Boxborough (No. 5 at 12-1-3) on the road Saturday (3 p.m.) in the first round.

The boys were defeated in the Division I North quarterfinals last year, 3-0, by Billerica on a 13-5-0 season record.

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For Bishop Fenwick, the boys are in Division III North and face Austin Prep Friday at 2 p.m. in Reading in a preliminary round game. The Crusaders are 6-8-4 this season and seeded 20th out of 21 teams. Austin Prep is 9-7-2 and seeded 13th.

The boys lost to Boston International in the first round last year.

The Lady Crusaders are 9-5-4 and seeded 12th in Division II North. Fenwick faces Latin Academy Saturday (2 p.m.) at Reservation Road in a first round game.