Gateway senior midfielder Caroline Booth, right, battles Monson’s Jen Fabrycki and Lauren Libiszewski during the first half of Sunday’s MIAA Div IV West Sectional at Westfield State University. Monson went on to win the title 2-0. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – Monson is proving to be the thorn in Gateway’s side.
For the second straight year, the Monson girls’ soccer team claimed the Western Massachusetts Division 4 championship at Gateway’s expense. The top-seeded Mustangs clipped the No. 2 Gators, 2-0, in the finals Sunday at Westfield State University to complete a repeat.
Gateway also lost to Monson in the 2013 title game.
It was anybody’s game early Sunday.
Gateway (14-4-1) nearly cracked the scoreboard, and shook the stadium seats in the opening seconds of the game with a ringing shot off the post. Alyssa Moreau’s direct kick, and a rebound from Jessica VanHeynigan just missed giving the Gators the early lead.
Gateway had a corner kick (Ali Fisk) in the 13th minute, but the ball was headed out of the box by a Monson defender. The Gators had another opportunity in the 24th minute when Samantha Belardo found raced down the right sideline on a breakaway. Belardo drilled a shot from the right corner of the box but Mustangs’ goalie Mackenzie Walat pounced on the ball for one of her three saves in the game.
Gateway also had a corner kick – from the opposite side of the goal – with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. Monson’s defense prevailed.
Monson (15-3-3) peppered the net in the final 120 seconds of the first half with shots from Ally Jarvis and Jen Fabrycki. Gateway goalie Sarah Otterbeck (5 saves) came away with some key stops.
Monson put the pressure on in the second half.
In the 59th minute, Lauren Murphy threaded a through-ball with a nice soft pass to Lauren Libiszewski that Libiszewski tapped in for a 1-0 Monson lead.
About three minutes later, Monson made it 2-0 when Fabrycki headed in Bryanna Murphy’s direct kick from the 18-yard line.
“They finally wore us down,” Gateway coach Steve Estelle said. “They’re the class of Division 4. They’re an exceptional team.”
The Gators’ head coach said the season-ending loss did not take anything away from his own team’s accomplishments this season.
“We won our league, we kept getting better all year, and we played a great 60 minutes today,” Estelle said. “It was a great run … My hats off to Monson.”
