ORANGE — There were bodies hitting the ground in large amounts, there was trash-talking among players and there were irate fans yelling at officials.
Just another boys soccer game between Mahar and Athol on the turf, Saturday night.
The Senators won this time, beating the Red Raiders 4-1. A three-goal stretch in the second half put Mahar ahead for good.
Riley Drew, Jonathan Mahony and James Temple all scored for the Senators. The game featured a lot of physical play as the two teams aren’t fond of each other between the lines.
Mahony is new to the program after transferring from Athol to Mahar. His brother, Connor, plays for the Red Raiders.
“The rivalry at hand is that we don’t like each other and that’s how we play on the field,” Jonathan Mahony said. “Off the field you can be friends, but on the field it is business.”
Most importantly, the victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Senators (6-3).
“We’ve worked really hard in practice,” Mahar coach Dan Guertin said. “This win started a couple days ago. We met Thursday and just felt we could be a better program.”
Athol (6-3) had an assistant coach receive a red card in the second half, leading to an ejection for badgering the officials.
There were seven cards in the game.
“It was an emotional game,” Athol coach Dave King said. “I am a little disappointed with our composure but the kids get into it. A lot of this was self inflicted.”
After Drew scored for Mahar, the Red Raiders quickly tied the game.
One of the many fouls in the game led to an Athol direct kick near the corner area. Defender Dennis St. Jean sent a bender that curved, hit Mahar’s post and went into the net, tying the game 1-1.
Jonathan Mahony also scored on a corner kick, while Temple gathered and fired a shot past Athol goalie Casey Mason from around 15 yards out.
Athol had another goal, but it was disallowed as there was a kick before the whistle after a foul in the corner of the field.
From there, Mahar scored the next three goals to take command. Late in the game defender Andrew Herk unleashed a laser from distance that got past Mason to make it 4-1.
Temple assisted on Herk’s long goal.
Logan Dodge provided some stability in net for the Senators, making seven saves.
Lucas Seney was misidentified in the weekend Athol Daily News. Seney is a football player for Mahar.
