It was a fierce battle out in front of both nets all night in the Westfield-Longmeadow boys’ soccer tournament game Tuesday. The Bombers fell 3-2. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
LONGMEADOW – Forget about the election, there were a number of contested soccer and field hockey tournament races playing out all around us.
One of them took place a few towns southeast of the Whip City in Longmeadow.
No. 3 Longmeadow rallied twice from one-goal deficits to defeat sixth-seeded Westfield 3-2 in a Division 1 boys’ soccer sectional quarterfinal Tuesday night.
“This was one of the craziest games I’ve been a part of – this includes as a player and a coach,” Westfield head coach Andrew Joseph said.
Longmeadow (14-3-2) opened the game, quickly pushing the ball upfield. Westfield (9-5-5) responded with a successful counter attack as Dante White passed to Aidan Dunn, who relayed the ball to Ryan Prenosil. Prenosil crashed the net, scoring in the second minute.
Longmeadow notched the equalizer off a corner kick with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
With seven seconds left in the half, Westfield called a timeout.
Westfield junior varsity call-up Sean Mitchell, who coach Joseph had learned just days leading up to Tuesday’s contest had a knack for great throw-ins, threw the ball in from the sideline. The ball clipped Longmeadow for an own goal as time expired to put Westfield up again by one.
In the second half, Longmeadow surged ahead for good. The Lancers tied the game 2-all with 20 minutes remaining. They scored the game-winner with 10 minutes left.
“We looked awesome tonight,” coach Joseph said. “Our guys battled. We had a lot of chances. We worked really hard … I can’t say enough about how proud I am of them.”
WEST DIVISION 3 QUARTERFINALS
Rams hurdle Monument Mountain
No. 2 Southwick 3, No. 7 Monument Mountain 0
Second-seeded Southwick (13-3-1) held serve in the team’s first postseason game of 2016. The Rams scored an early first-half goal against Monument Mountain, and cruised from there.
Southwick’s Mike Sheil (10) and a Monument Mountain player jump in unison for a header during a boys’ soccer playoff game at the Southwick Rec Center Field Tuesday. (Photo by Chris Putz)
Tim McGrath scored two goals, and Ryan LeClair tallied one. Brandon Castor had one assist.
Southwick goalie Nick Chambers (5 saves) earned a shutout in net.
The Southwick Rams will advance to Thursday’s semifinals at East Longmeadow, beginning at 7 p.m.
WEST DIVISION 4 QUARTERFINALS
Gators exact revenge
No. 5 Gateway 1, No. 4 Renaissance 0
Nick Cooper scored the game-winning goal on a pass from Evan Lee to help Gateway avoid a third straight loss to Renaissance this season, and escape Springfield with a quarterfinal win at Central High School. Jayden Marge set up the score with some nice movement through the midfield.
Gateway goalie Shane Mastello finished with eight saves, including two key stops.
“It was a big win for us,” Gateway coach Tim Gamble said. “A good defensive effort all around. Everyone had an imprint on the game.”
The Gateway Gators (11-5-3) move on to face top-seeded Monson (14-4-1) to the semifinals Thursday. The game will begin at 5 p.m.
FIELD HOCKEY WEST DIVISION 2 SEMIFINALS
Green Wave rolls on
No. 1 Greenfield 5, No. 5 Southwick 0
Greenfield’s Raegan Hickey led the way with two goals, and three others (Amanda Elwell, Ashley Hubbard, Kirsten Ward) scored one apiece in slamming the door shut on Southwick’s postseason advancement.
Southwick goalie Sarah Power collected 15 saves.
