ORANGE — A heated crosstown rivalry got a third edition in the playoffs on Tuesday night.
The Mahar Regional boys soccer team knocked off Athol High School, 2-0, in the first round of the Western Mass. Division III tournament at the Woodward Complex under the lights.
The sixth-seeded Senators (14-2-3) advance to play No. 3 Belchertown (8-4-6) on a date to be determined. It’s the first time since 2015 that the Senators will play in the quarterfinals.
“These guys acted like they lost after the game,” Mahar coach Dan Guertin said. “They didn’t get too high and didn’t get too excited. They’re on to the next round.”
Riley Drew was a game-time decision for the Senators and made the call to play against the Red Raiders. The decision was big for the Senators when Drew gave the team a 1-0 lead at 24 minutes, 12 seconds of the first half.
“I went through warm ups and felt really good,” Drew said. “It’s Athol, I was not going to miss this game. This year we ended with really strong teams that are in the tournament so we were already in at tournament level. The last few years we ended with really soft teams and didn’t come out with enough intensity.”
Drew took a pass from James Temple and carried patiently before taking a shot from outside the 18-yard line.
“I honestly thought it was going to hit the crossbar,” Drew said. “It went in.”
The Mahar defense took a huge hit moving forward after losing Simon Powell for the season with a broken foot.
Powell hurt his foot in the regular season against Athol and then played against Sabis International briefly before coming out of the game. Powell was in a walking boot on the Mahar sideline.
Alex Currier stepped in for Powell.
“I think he can make the transition,” Guertin said of Currier. “It’s tough to replace Simon. We are going to have to do it collectively.”
The Red Raiders (7-8-4) had a hard time creating offensive opportunities without Bryce King.
“He does so well moving the ball,” Athol coach Ruddy Paulino said. “Building that center and putting the balls in the right places. It was tough having him out. We had opportunities we just didn’t capitalize on them.”
Seniors Zack Aldrich, Logan Kirwan, Alex Downing, Parker Deleo, Mark Ferrari, Nick Bousquet, Colby Soltysik, Maysin Tarbell and King all played their final match for the Athol soccer program.
Most of the group has played together since youth soccer.
“Great kids,” Paulino said. “It’s tough finishing off the season like this. Hopefully they grow from this and take something positive out of it. It didn’t end up the way we wanted.”
Temple scored a second half goal for the Senators.
Drew set up Gavin Sullivan who drew a foul just outside the penalty area. On the ensuing direct kick, Temple blasted a shot that hit the Athol wall.
The ball slowly trickled back to Temple who absolutely rifled a shot to the left corner to give the Senators a 2-0 lead with 22 minutes left.
Logan Dodge played steady in net for Mahar, making five saves in the shutout.
Casey Mason stopped eight shots for the Red Raiders.
Mahar 2, Athol 0
|
Athol |
0 |
0 |
— |
0 |
|
Mahar |
1 |
1 |
— |
2 |
Goals: (M) Drew, Temple.
Assists: (M) Temple
Saves: (A) Mason 8. (M) Dodge 5.
