Defending State Champ Bromfield Gets By Lenox Boys in Semis

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. -- Lenox boys soccer coach Camilo Bermudez talked about his team needing to play a "perfect game" to beat two-time defending state champion Bromfield on Tuesday night.

 

The start was anything but perfect for the Millionaires.

 

Bromfield scored two goals in the first 10 minutes of play en route to a second straight 5-0 win over Lenox in the Division 4 state semi-finals.

 

William Armstrong and Eli Fishbein each had a goal and an assist as the Central Mass champion Trojans (17-1-4) advanced to Saturday's state title game.

 

The first goal came in the seventh minute, when Armstrong headed home a long cross from Fishbein.

 

A few minutes later, Lenox keeper Daniel Munch misplayed an Alexander Jorgensen free direct kick from 40 yards out, and the ball slipped into the net to make it 2-0.

 

"I guess it seemed like this: You're gonna have to play a perfect game," Bermudez said. "And there's always weathering the storm for the first 20 minutes, and we couldn't weather the storm."

 

Six minutes after Jorgensen's goal, Bromfield picked up its third from Fishbein out of a scramble in the 6 when it appeared that Munch had managed to corral the ball.

 

"They got one, fine, it was a legitimate goal," Bermudez said. "But we had the two that were hard to swallow. They were hard goals to take because both of them should have been taken care of."

 

On both plays, the wet conditions and light mist at Marlborough's Whitcomb Middle School made it tough to get a handle on the ball.

 

"Dan [Munch] got us through. If it wasn't for Dan, we wouldn't be here," Bermudez said. "Every keeper is going to have his off night, and let the ball slip. Unfortunately, it happened today.

 

"When you're down 2-0 against this team, it's not the way you want to be moving forward. It puts them in a comfortable position."

 

After giving up three goals in the first 16 minutes, Lenox settled down, and Munch made eight saves the rest of the way.

 

But any images of a Lenox comeback were shattered in the the 53rd minute when Ryan McNulty scored for the Trojans.

 

Late in the game, John Morrison tacked on the exclamation point, converting a cross from Jordan Colon to match last year's result when the two sides met in the same round of the state tourney.

 

"This team is very good because if you pressure them high, they can play direct, and if you sit back a little more, they're going to play you in the middle," Bermudez said of Bromfield.

 

By the time Colon scored, both coaches were doing their best to get their reserves on the field. For Bermudez and the Millionaires, it was a chance to get all of the Lenox seniors on the pitch one last time.

 

"This senior class, obviously, has been here three times," he said. "And when they finished last year, it was like, 'Oh, we got our senior year going,' but then Keveen [Delgado] is out and Zach [Suffish] gets a knee injury, so we never had a chance to have that senior class have their full squad on.

 

"So for the last 15 minutes, to get them on, it's great for them. They had a great career."

 

On the flip side was all the valuable experience gained this fall by Lenox's younger players.

 

"If you look at our starting lineup, it only had one senior," Bermudez said. "I know every coach says this. I know it's a cliche, but looking forward, we will have the same core guys heading into next year.

 

"I know it's tough to say to them, 'Keep looking forward.' But we'll have a solid squad going into next season."