Ten days after his days as a member of the Concord-Carlisle boys soccer team ended, Chris Walker-Jacks has mixed feelings about the way it ended.
“As time goes by it helps the situation,” said Walker-Jacks, whose Patriots lost to Groton-Dunstable, 2-0 in the MIAA Division 2 state title game, denying C-C a third straight state title. “I still have some feelings of disappointment, but there’s a lot to be proud of.”
Since Walker-Jacks arrived at C-C as a sophomore after transferring from Concord Academy, the Patriots have done more than their share of winning. Walker-Jacks started all 69 games during his three seasons with the Patriots, who were 54-9-6 during that stretch. In the postseason, C-C was 18-1, with state titles in 2009 and 2010. The Patriots also won the Division 2 North championship this fall.
“The measure of his talent is the team championships,” said C-C coach Ray Pavlik. “He could have been a forward, but he made the decision to play defense and he and the program ended up playing in three state championship games.”
Walker-Jacks began playing defense when he was 12.
“When I was 11, I was a forward and I was playing for Inter FC, one of the better club teams around,” Walker-Jacks said. “I got cut. I switched to defense when I joined the Greater Boston Bolts. My first coach with that club, Jason Moore, played defense, and I liked him a lot.”
Walker-Jacks also began to enjoy the challenge of playing his position.
“I like shutting down the other team’s high scorers,” he said. “I like the physical aspect of it as well.”
Having all the tools needed to excel makes it even more enjoyable.
“If you watch him play, he stands out,” Pavlik said. “He has outstanding speed and size.”
While there may be no individual statistics to measure what Walker-Jacks does, his contributions do not go unnoticed.
“Chris is one of the elite players in the [Dual County] League,” said Lincoln-Sudbury coach Dave Hosford. “Since he started playing for C-C, it was very obvious that he is very athletic and strikes the ball better than anyone I’ve seen. He’s a player whom you always have to account for at all times.”
One of the bigger plays that Walker-Jacks made was in the state semifinals. In the closing minutes of the game, with the Patriots nursing a 2-1 lead against Sandwich, Walker-Jacks made a sliding tackle to stop a Blue Knights’ breakaway.
“It was a two-on-three,” Walker Jacks said. “It was one of their better players. I saw Dallas Donovan make a move behind him. I just hit the ground and I got there in time.”
Said Pavlik, “The bigger the game, the better he played.”
When Walker-Jacks was at Concord Academy, he missed part of his freshman season with a broken arm. He arrived at C-C as a sophomore and moved into a starting role immediately.
“It was definitely a big change from Concord Academy but I was ready for it,” he said. “It helped playing with [former C-C goalie] Cam McGrory. I played with him since I was little. There’s a ton of communication needed on defense from the goalie and it was very helpful that he was there.”
Next year, Walker-Jacks will play for Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y.
“I went up there and I knew it was the right spot,” Walker-Jacks said. “It’s a very good program, No. 7 in the country [in Division III]. I liked the coach, Shawn Griffin, a lot.”
Walker-Jacks will spend the winter training with the Bolts. In the spring, he will play for the C-C lacrosse team. Last year, he helped the Patriots reach the MIAA Division 2 Eastern Mass. final.
“Playing in that [title game at Harvard Stadium] felt familiar because of soccer,” he said. “I knew what it was all about. I want to get back there again.”