Players for Westfield Technical Academy raise the state’s Vocational School’s trophy after claiming the championship over Upper Cape Cod Tech 2-1 Monday night at Bullens Field. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
WESTFIELD – A small group of fans who huddled together inside the confines of Bullens Field will forever remember a futbol – no not football – classic.
Westfield Technical Academy senior Alex Stepanchuk split the defense with a header on the run near the 40-yard-line, tapping it ahead to himself just inside the right half of the penalty box, where he regained possession and kicked it past the oncoming goalie with 84 seconds remaining in regulation, sending the Tigers to a thrilling 2-1 win over Upper Cape Cod Tech (Bourne) in the Massachusetts Vocational Athletic Directors Association’s Boys’ State Soccer Tournament final Monday night.
“He was our go-to guy (this season),” Westfield Tech coach Kyle Dulude said of Stepanchuk, the team’s leading scorer who had been held scoreless in his previous five games. “I felt like it just had to be him. This will give him peace of mind for most of his life.”
Westfield Tech created a lifetime of memories throughout the entire 80-minute contest.
Dominic Rosario etched one of those moments in everyone’s memory banks, setting up the game’s first score with a perfectly-placed corner kick in the 37th minute that Sergiy Kabysh rose high above the defense to head into the upper part of the net past the outstretched hands of Upper Cape Cod Tech goalie Kyle Carroll.
Upper Cape Cod Tech tied the game in the 58th minute. Rams’ captain Devin Wiper curled in a beautiful direct kick from just outside the left corner of the penalty box into the upper right hand corner of the net.
There was nothing Westfield Tech goalie Anatoliy Suprunchuk could do but wave a finger tip at the high floater. That was not the case a few seconds earlier when Suprunchuk made a spectacular kick save to knock away a low laser.
Suprunchuk made several other key saves throughout the first half, and in crunch time late.
Tigers’ Alex Stepanchuk (8) slips through the Upper Cape Cod Tech defense Monday night at Bullens Field. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
“This is amazing,” Suprunchuk said after fans, friends, family members, fellow classmates, and alumni stormed the field for a much-deserved celebration. “It feels like my brain’s exploded and my heart’s out of my chest. Right now, I’m on top of the world.”
That world could have imploded when Westfield Tech committed a penalty and received a card, leading to Upper Cape Cod Tech’s game-tying goal. The Tigers would not back down, nor cave in.
“We didn’t shut down,” Rosario said. “We kept hammering back, hammering back, and shooting the ball … A lot of younger kids stepped it up. That meant so much.”
The final nail came in the form of Stepanchuk, who took a long pass from Vitaliy Tereschchuk, rushed through the defense, and scored the game-winner with 1:24 showing on the Bullens Field scoreboard.
“It was a good pass from Vitaliy,” Stepanchuk said. “I had to finish.”
For Westfield Tech (16-1-2), it was their second small vocational schools’ title in three years. The Tigers defeated Upper Cape 3-1 in 2013 to claim the championship.
“The memories that they have created today will last a lifetime,” coach Dulude said.
The game, while it will be cherished for several years to come, is merely a prelude to the Western Massachusetts tournament, which is set to begin this week.
All divisional tournament fields were announced Monday.
Westfield Tech earned the third seed in the D4 tourney, and will host a quarterfinal game against the winner of a first round matchup between No. 6 St. Joe’s (10-1-5) and 10th seeded McCann Tech (8-7-3). The quarterfinal likely will be played as part of a postseason doubleheader Friday at Bullens Field.
POSTSEASON NOTES: Westfield (11-3-3) received the overall top seed in the Western Massachusetts Division I tournament, and will tentatively take part in the proposed double header Friday at Bullens Field. The Bombers will play either No. 8 Chicopee (7-7-4) or No. 9 West Springfield (7-7-4).
In other D4 action, seventh seeded Gateway (15-1-2) will take on No. 10 PVCHS (13-4-1) Wednesday in a first round contest in Huntington at 6 p.m.
No. 4 Southwick (9-2-5) will host fifth-seeded Frontier (12-3-2) Friday at 2 p.m.
GIRLS’ SOCCCER TOURNAMENT FIELD: Southwick (9-7-1) earned a third seed in the West Division 3 tournament. The Rams will host the sixth-seeded South Hadley Tigers (9-7-2) Saturday. Time TBA.
In Division 4, No. 3 Gateway (12-1-3) hosts No. 6 Mount Everett (11-5-1) Saturday in Huntington at 6 p.m.
FIELD HOCKEY NOTE: No. 4 Southwick (11-6) earned a trip to No. 1 Frontier (16-2) Saturday.
GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL
Westfield def. Sci-Tech 25-10, 25-13, 25-6
Kelsey Johnstone recorded eight assists, 10 aces, and three kills; Sam Sperling finished with five aces, three assist, and two kills; Alexa Morin delivered five kills and three aces; and, Mia Pavyluk had six kills in the Bombers’ three-set sweep Monday.
2015 STATE VOCATIONAL CHAMPION WESTFIELD TECHNICAL ACADEMY TIGERS
