Peplowski's Two Goals, Two Assists Lead Pittsfield Past Hoosac Valley

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Luke Peplowski scored two goals and set up two more, and the Pittsfield boys soccer team beat Hoosac Valley, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon at Kirvin Park.

 

The victory snapped a three-game winless streak for the Generals, who improved to 4-5-2 with seven games remaining this fall.

 

It also allowed Pittsfield to put a disappointing 5-0 loss at Mount Greylock on Friday night in the rear view mirror as quickly as possible.

 

"In a wayit's good to bounce back immediately, but it's never fun to play twice in 24 hours," Pittsfield coach Andrew Antil said. "The kids are pretty beat. But it kind of changes the tune a bit.

 

"We know we can still make tournament. We have to win four out of our next seven, which is very doable, and hopefully this puts us on the right track."

 

The Generals and Hurricanes were in the same boat schedule wise. While Pittsfield was losing at Mount Greylock on Friday, Hoosac Valley was battling to a hard-fought 2-1 win over McCann Tech.

 

Hurricanes coach Patrick Mahoney indicated most of the credit for Saturday's score belongs to Pittsfield, but Hoosac's fatigue did not help.

 

"We've got like 12 full-time varsity players," he said. "So, we were tired. We had a big one on Wednesday night, too, so it's been three pretty high intensity games in four days, which is tough for 12 guys.

 

"And then obviously, Pittsfield is a good team. So they're always going to make it difficult whether you're tired or not. But we had heavy legs."

 

Pittsfield kept the ball in the Hurricanes' half of the field almost the entire match. It had a 23-2 advantage in shots on goal and earned eight corner kicks to none for the 'Canes.

 

It was just a 2-0 game at half-time, though, thanks to eight first-half saves by Lucas Waterman (16 saves) and defensive efforts like that of Aiden Maturski, who stopped Pittsfield's Cole Masiero on a dangerous chance at the top of the 18 midway through the half.

 

The game's first goal came 13 minutes in, when Peplowski converted an assist from Ryan Muller.

 

Masiero found the back of the net in the 23rd minute with an assist from Peplowski.

 

Hoosac's hopes of getting back into it took a hit just more than a minute into the second half when Petie Breitmaier set up Peplowski with a cross from the right wing.

 

It stayed 3-0 for 27 minutes before Mark Amenlemah headed home a Peplowski direct kick from the right side.

 

Amenlemah played most of the game in goal for the Generals but came out seven minutes into the second half with the three-goal lead.

 

The Pittsfield forward was pressed into service when keeper Avi Snowise was injured in a tie at West Springfield last week.

 

Antil said that Snowise is day-to-day, and the team hopes to have him between the pipes again soon. Antil is looking forward to being able to use Amendalah in the field more.

 

"It's nice having [Amendahlah] pressure up top, and, with Avi out, it's another sub we don't have on the bench," he said. "We don't have a big roster, so we need all the guys we can get.

 

"Mark is definitely a big force up front. He makes the other team's defense think twice every play. And we lose a lot of options when he's not up there."

 

The teams traded goals in the last four minutes with a junior varsity keeper between the pipes for Pittsfield and midfielder Matthew Tassone spelling Waterman for the Hurricanes.

 

First, Omar Miranda finished Brett Racine's cross from deep on the right wing to make it 5-0, Pittsfield. Then Evan Norcross got the Hurricanes on the board with three minutes left to play.

 

Pittsfield goes right back on the pitch Monday evening when it hosts Bekshire County North Division rival Wahconah at BCC. The Generals will be looking to avenge a 3-1 loss in Dalton.

 

Hoosac Valley (2-7-2) is home on Monday for a rematch with South Division foe Taconic. The Canes won the teams' first meeting, 3-1, last week.