Smith Voc Boys Upset Hoosac Valley
CHESHIRE, Mass. – The Hoosac Valley boys soccer team came out of the first half of Wednesday's Western Massachusetts Class D quarter-final with the overwhelming majority of possession time, a 1-0 lead … and a bevy of missed opportunities that would come back to haunt the Hurricanes.
Smith Vocational scored two goals in the second half to take a 2-1 win and advance to play either Lenox or Drury in the regional semi-finals.
“We were really dominating the entire first half,” Hoosac Valley coach Patrick Mahoney said. “That’s kind of been our Achilles heel all season: We play some really good stuff, we create a lot chances, and we just don’t have that killer instinct – or we don’t show it often enough.
“And if you give teams that are maybe a little older than you or that are pretty athletic who have some guys who can run – if you give them hope into the 50th, 60th, 70th minute, this kind of stuff is gonna happen.”
The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for Hoosac Valley (9-6-2), but it did not end its season. The Hurricanes will get a consolation game against another quarter-final loser later this week and they already have qualified for next week’s state tournament.
They looked well on their way to advancing in the Western Mass tourney in the opening stage of Wednesday’s contest.
Dylan Rohlfs made some dangerous runs in the first few minutes, none stronger than in the fifth minute, when he beat the Vikings’ Sean Zadworny to a ball on the right wing and carried into the box. Keeper Zach Bramucci (seven saves) came off his line and made a sliding tackle on Rohlfs about 16 yards from goal, but the ball got behind Bramucci. That move by the keeper was just enough to slow things down for Zadworny to catch the play from behind and slide into the ball inside the 6 and knock it away from Rohlfs and over the end line for a Hoosac Valley corner kick.
A different corner kick produced Hoosac Valley’s goal at the 9 minute, 30 second mark.
The entry from the left wing corner sailed across the goal mouth, and Ian Godfrey was able to gain possession and keep it from crossing the end line. He then sent a centering pass to the top of the 18 for David Scholz, who settled and fired a left-footed shot into the upper 90 to put the Hurricanes ahead, 1-0.
Smith Voc’s best chances to score in the first half came on counters, largely through Rosco Palmer. But each time the big forward appeared to free up for a run up the middle, Hoosac Valley’s Jack Martin was able to shut down the play.
“To [Smith Voc’s] credit, they were really willing runners, and they do have some good players who were direct and dangerous,” Mahoney said.
“Jack’s been great. We foolishly had him in the midfield to start the season, and then we decided to make the switch to the back, and he’s been a stud ever since.”
The Vikings made a switch of their own for the second season, and it took them a little time to settle in.
“We came into the game with a little bit of a tactical change,” Smith Voc coach Ryan Della Penna said. “We just wanted to make sure that our defense was compressed, that our team on defense was compressed so [Hoosac Valley] wouldn’t be able to go straight down the middle. The second half, when they realized that they were still in the game, I think they just had a little more fight.”
The Vikings came out and took control of the match to start the second half, and in the 50th minute, Patrick Gougeon scored the equalizer from distance on the right wing.
Hoosac Valley responded with some pressure right away but was unable to get a quality chance on goal.
And in the 56th minute, Hurricanes keeper Wesley Emerson (nine saves) had to leave the game after a visit from the trainer following a collision with a Smith Voc attacker.
The Vikings took advantage nine minutes later when Rosco was able to break through the defense and put a shot on the Hurricanes’ emergency keeper that found the back of the net to give the visitors a lead they did not relinquish.
Smith Vocational awaits the winner of Thursday’s quarter-final between Drury and third-seeded Lenox.
Hoosac Valley gets one more regular season game on its schedule – in a season when it was, perhaps, a little ahead of schedule.
“I had high hopes for the Western Mass tournament with this crew,” Mahoney said. “Which is a little naive given our age. It’s definitely disappointing. But they will be back, and we’ll be back.
“I think their frustration now is they’re going to have to wait a year to get there, but it’s a good group of kids.”