Lenox Boys Blank Mohawk, Move On

LENOX, Mass. -- The No. 6 seeded Lenox boys soccer team defeated No. 11 Mohawk Tuesday evening in the first round of the Western Massachusetts Division 4 tournament.

 

Lenox came out strong in the first half and maintained control throughout. It generated a lot of opportunities to put the ball on net but wasn’t capitalizing on its chances.

 

It wasn’t until the final nine minutes of the first half when Dylan Benham found the feet of Nic Baruch, who beat Mohawk’s defenders and put the ball in the back of the net, giving Lenox the 1-0 lead going into the second half.

 

“They’re a very well organized team and you really have to break them down by using the ball,” Lenox coach Simon Borrett said. “We didn’t do that in the first half; we slowed the game down and played to their strengths.”

 

“In the second half it was really about focusing on that top forward so they would collapse; drop it out quick and using the width.”

 

Coming into the second half, Lenox wasted no time getting things started.

 

The Baruch-Benham duo was at it again. At the kickoff, Baruch crashed the net, sending in a shot that deflected off the Mohawk goalie. Benham was able to get a touch on the deflection and send the ball back in while the goalie was still down, putting Lenox ahead 2-0 where the score remained until the final whistle.

 

From there Lenox took over and won the ball throughout the second half. Mohawk did have a few opportunities with their speed up front, but Lenox’s defense refused to let anything through.

 

“One of our seniors [Kyle Boyer], who's played center back for us all year, started at midfield today and we moved him back because they were getting a couple of good looks,” Borrett said. “So Kyle dropped back, and then it was a case of being aware because at the end of that half one of their players went the whole way through my team.”

 

With the win, Lenox advances to the quarter-finals, where it will play the winner of No. 3 Mount Everett and No. 14 Smith Voc. Those two teams play Wednesday afternoon in Sheffield at 2 p.m.