HUNTINGTON — Granby senior Weishan Li recorded a hat trick Monday night after missing four straight games with an ankle sprain as the Rams took down Gateway Regional, 6-0, at Booster Field on the Gators’ senior night.
Both teams had some extra motivation heading into their final game of the regular season, having already clinched the playoff berths prior to Monday night.
The McGrath South title was on the line.
With the win, Granby (15-2, 7-1 McGrath South) earned sole possession of the league title over the same Gateway team that handed them a 2-0 loss at home on Sept. 8.
Gateway (10-5-3, 5-3 McGrath South) could have forced a split of the league title with Granby and Renaissance with a win.
“Gateway was one of our only losses, so it was a really good win for us,” said Granby coach Todd Dorman. “Especially given the style of play, they’re consistently such a strong team, and they challenged us physically tonight.”
The game featured back-and-forth play, although Granby set the pace down the sidelines early, pushing the ball into the Gateway side and keeping it there for much of the first half.
The Rams’ first shot on goal came four minutes into play on a hard Daylon Kongo strike that bounced directly off the hands of jumping Gateway goalie Shane Mastello, who deflected the ball far out of play.
Soon after, Gateway nearly scored on a Franky Tangredi shot from the top of the box that skidded over the upper-left corner of the goal. Tangredi set himself up, playing the ball off a bounce, settling, and letting the ball fly off his right foot, the first shot on goal for the Gators.
This is when Li took over for Granby.
The crafty forward scored the only two goals of the first half, both without an assist.
Li sprinted from the top of the box toward the goal after a Granby corner kick 11 minutes in, and played the ball on the ground through several Gateway deflections for the first score of the game.
Six minutes later, Li worked to get space near the top of the box, and fired a laser into the top bar before it fell into the goal to give Granby a 2-0 lead that it carried into halftime.
“This is Weishan’s first match in four games because of an injury, so to come back and get a hat trick is just really solid,” said Dorman. “It shows his ability is there all the time.”
Li’s third goal swung the momentum entirely in Granby’s favor, putting the Rams up 3-0 just 10 minutes into the second half.
Granby’s Joe Desormier made his way into the Gateway box before flicking the ball across to Li, who sent the ball straight to the back of the net on his hardest shot of the night.
“This win feels great,” said Li. “Ever since I’ve been on varsity we’ve never won here. It feels really good.”
Li and his teammates were simply too fast for the Gators this time, with strong play defensively from Granby midfielders to keep Gateway from finishing scoring pushes down the stretch.
“Joe Desormier and Daylon Kongo played well in the middle,” said Dorman. “With Noah Bleakley playing strong defense, as well as Doug L’Abbee, across the lineup they really did well today.”
Corey Hinkley, Ethan King (penalty kick) and Michael Sosa added the final three goals of the game for Granby. L’Abbee added an assist.
“We were able to match Gateway’s intensity today,” said Dorman. “We knew this game meant a lot to both of us.”