Manzolini Scores Twice as Spartans Advance
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – Hudson Manzolini Monday scored with 1 minute, 15 seconds remaining Monday to give the Monument Mountain boys soccer team a 2-1 win over Lynn Vo-Tech in the first round of the Division 4 State Tournament.
The Spartans, who took the lead on Manzolini’s first goal early in the second half, bounced back after the visiting Tigers got the equalizer with just 2:27 left in regulation.
“Score,” Manzolini said when asked about the team’s mindset after seeing its lead slip away fewer than three minutes from the finish line. “Score, which we did.”
The fifth-seeded Spartans (6-6-6) advance to the Sweet 16, where they will face either Ipswich or Greater Lawrence Tech, who meet on Tuesday evening in Lawrence.
In their tournament opener, the Spartans did everything but score in the first half, outshooting Lynn Vo-Tech, 6-1, in shots on goal and generating a number of other chances that were just off frame.
Sean Scarbro had one of the game’s first shots on goal from about 40 yards in the 12th minute, and had a try of his own from the left wing, about 25 yards from goal a minute later.
Both shot were stopped by Tigers keeper Nixon Ochoa, who finished with 10 stops on the night.
The visitors did have some chances in the first 40 minutes. Midway through the half, Joe DeLeon took a try from high on the left wing that went off the crossbar. In the 23rd minute, Anthony Zavala took a free kick from 35 yards out on the right wing that led to one of two saves by Monument Mountain keeper Calvin Cooney.
Mostly, the Spartans defense was able to limit shots by the Tigers, and the teams went into the break stalemated at 0-0.
But the Spartans broke the tie in the fifth minute of the second half.
Pressure on the left wing by Oliver Curtis and in the 6 by Milo Potoski led to a Lynn Vo-Tech handball in the mouth of the goal.
Manzolini went to the penalty spot for the Sparans and delivered a successful PK to put his team on top, 1-0.
The Spartans continued to keep the pressure on the visitors the rest of the way and nearly doubled the lead with about five minutes left. Manzolini was taken down with a hard foul that drew a red card on a run up the middle.
He took the resulting free kick from about 25 yards out, and it got past the wall but went just wide of the post to keep it a one-score game.
Moments later, Lynn Vo-Tech generated a free kick at the other end about 40 yards out on the left wing. The entry was to the middle of the 18, where the Tigers were able to connect in traffic to beat Cooney and tie it, 1-1.
Monument Mountain coach Matt Naventi was not surprised his team was in a dog fight against the 28th-seeded Tigers.
“We knew for sure this team was a lot better than they were ranked,” Naventi said of Lynn Vo-Tech. “They had a lot of injuries earlier in the season. And just watching film of them, we knew we were going to be in for a game. They had some gaps that I think we were able to expose. Just, unfortunately, we didn’t convert a little earlier on.”
Yet another set piece opportunity gave the Spartans the lead for good.
Owen Heck teed up a free kick from about 35 yards as time was winding down. His service to the left side was knocked home by Manzolini to make it 2-1, and the Spartans held the visitors at bay over the final 75 seconds to secure the win.
Late surges have been kind of a theme for Monument Mountain this fall.
The Spartans have not lost a match since Oct. 7 (an overtime “loss” in the Western Mass quarter-finals goes in the books as a tie for purposes of MIAA tournament seeding). In that span, Monument Mountain is 4-0-3 after starting the year 0-5-2.
“Some of [the turnaround] was just knowing that our season is a grind, and we’re not going to get results every time,” Naventi said. “To be a .500 team in our league is saying something, especially when we’re playing against a lot of D3 and D2 teams, and then we play Ludlow [in a non-league game].
“When the rankings initially came out about midway through the season, I think that was the reality check. We were 0-5-2 at that point in time, at our low point for sure. And we still came in like seventh [in Division 4] because we were rewarded for playing a strong schedule. … We really turned a corner at that point in the year and started to get some goals from guys that weren’t contributing early on.”