Wahconah Girls Move on to Semi-Finals

DALTON, Mass. -- Emmy Cote scored to break a scoreless stalemate, and Arden McKnight added a pair of insurance goals Monday as the Wahconah girls soccer team defeated Hampshire, 3-0, in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 quarter-finals.

Fourth-seeded Wahconah (12-5-2) advances to Wednesday’s semi-final against No. 1 Monument Mountain (12-2-2) at Holyoke High School.

The opening stage of Monday’s match was a stalemate as both teams played physical defense, not allowing any easy shots on their respective goaltenders. It wasn’t until the 20th minute that Wahconah was able to break the scoreless game. Striker Cote netted the first goal of the game on a through ball from midfielder McKenna Mcilquaham.

Hampshire fought back after this goal and had its best chances of evening the match from multiple corner kicks and a scramble for a loose ball in front of the Wahconah’s goal, but all attempts went unanswered. The first half ended with Wahconah up, 1-0.

The second half’s pace started much faster than the first as Hampshire upped its pressure on Wahconah. This pressure resulted in early attempts at goal from corner kicks and rebound chances. Wahconah handled the pressure from Hampshire tremendously, none of the attempts from Hampshire found answers.

Wahconah pushed its lead to two when Arden McKnight scored unassisted for her first goal of the game in the 31st minute. McKnight scored her second of the game just four minutes later on a lob pass over the top of the Hampshire defense from Cote.  

Monday’s win avenged Wahconah’s 2-1 loss to Hampshire from back on Sept. 22. Wahconah takes a four game winning streak and a 9-1-2 record in its last 12 games into Wednesday’s semi-final.