Westfield Boys Stymie Monument Mountain

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. -- For most of Thursday’s match, a goal by the Monument Mountain boys soccer team looked inevitable.

 

In the 55th minute, Westfield did the improbable.

 

Tyler Kutt’s 50-yard bomb from high on the right wing sparked the Bombers to a 2-0 win on a rainy, windy night.

 

Kutt’s blast came on a direct free kick. He launched the ball with the wind and into the box, where it skidded off the wet gloves of keeper Luke Arienti and into the net.

 

“It’s unfortunate, but the psychology of the game is that one play, even though we were playing well, got us down a little bit and picked them up,” Monument Mountain coach Matt Naventi said. “And they felt like they were right back in the game, when I felt that things were in our favor up until that point.

 

“The kid was trying to play the ball into the box, and it looked like he mishit it, and it happened to go to the wrong spot. And catching the ball above your hands when it’s wet is very difficult.”

 

It took some time for the Spartans (2-2-2) to bounce back after falling behind, but they had a good chance to get the equalizer in the 66th minute. Will Curtiss started the play by winning a one-on-one battle deep on the left wing and crossing the ball to the right side where it ended up on the toe of Sean Scarbro. But his shot was denied by Westfield keeper Aiden Van Oostveen.

 

A minute later, Michael Liquori dashed the Spartans hopes for a comeback by making it a two-goal margin with 13 minutes on the clock.

 

Van Ooostveen was key to keeping Westfield in the game in the first half, when he made six of his eight saves.

 

But only a couple of those stops were against prime scoring opportunities as the Spartans struggled to find the finishing touch that led to 14 goals in their last four games.

 

“We created opportunities,” Naventi said. “It’s just that last connecting pass that just missed. This was a game where, unfortunately, in a lot of ways, it didn’t go our way. And then [the Bombers] picked up some momentum in the second half. I thought they played a lot better than they did in the first.

 

“But I was totally happy with the way we played the first 40 minutes. And I think with the competition that we have coming up this coming week, having Belchertown, Ludlow and Agawam, who are all pretty phenomenal teams -- if we can play like that and up our game a little bit, I think we can compete a little bit.”

 

That rugged stretch of competition begins Saturday evening when the Orioles visit Great Barrington.