Rancourt, Wojtaszek Score in McCann Tech Boys' Win
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The shortest distance between two points may be a straight line, but the surest route to the goal was not so direct for the McCann Tech boys soccer team on Tuesday.
David Rancourt and Mike Wojtaszek scored second half goals to lead the Hornets to a 2-0 win over Pathfinder and a 2-0 start to the season.
Wojtaszek had a boot in both goals. His cross from the left wing deflected off the fingertips of the Pathfinder keeper to set up Rancourt’s game-winner in the 52nd minute, and he took a Brandon Vallone through ball from midfield up the left wing and beat the keeper one-on-one for his fifth goal of the season with 15 minutes, 39 seconds on the clock.
“We played with urgency,” Rancourt said. “It was a great game. We played with pressure. We learned out to play the outside. … We got the crosses in, got a couple of breakaways and we finished them.”
That “outside in” play was by design, McCann Tech coach Tom Bona said.
“I called the timeout with 12 minutes [left in the first half],” he said. “We just needed to go back to our game plan. And our game plan was to work it down the sidelines, and that would open up the middle.
“At first they weren’t doing it. They kept playing it down the middle. And [Pathfinder] had a strong player in the middle on ‘D,’ and we made it easy for him. We kept kick it, and he’d pick it up and send it back out.”
Over the last 52 minutes of the game, McCann Tech outshot the visitors by a margin of 9-1.
“I think once we started moving to the outside, he had to start moving out of the middle to make a play,” Bona said. “That opened up the middle for us on the crosses.”
Devon Griswold made four of his five saves in the first half to help keep it an even game.
McCann had a few good chances in the first half, including a point-blank try by freshman Matthew Bailey in the 34th minute. Five minutes later, Pathfinder keeper Trent Santos (nine saves) came off his line to deny Rancourt on a cross from Ryan Charon.
McCann cashed in the first good scoring chance of the second half.
Wojtaszek snuck behind the last defender in pursuit of a through ball into the left-wing corner, and he one-timed the ball across into the goal box. Santos leapt up, but the ball grazed just off his fingers for Rancourt, who followed the ball into the net for his first goal of the season.
In the 65th minute, Wojtaszek scored to give McCann Tech its 10th goal in two games this season.
“I knew my offense was older this year, and they got a lot of practice last year,” Bona said. “I was hoping this was going to be the result. I’ve got a good bunch coming back. It helps.
“I hope we can keep it up, but the next game coming up [Thursday against Mohawk] is going to be tough. And they’re going to get tougher. We’ve got a team coming up on Friday [Pioneer Valley Christian] that beat these guys, 5-0. We’ve got to get better.”