AMHERST – It did not take long to realize that the seventh-seeded Amherst Regional boys soccer team will be playing No. 2 West Springfield on Monday night in the quarterfinal round of the Western Massachusetts Division 1 playoffs.
The Hurricanes, who defeated No. 10 Commerce 9-0 Saturday afternoon, attacked early and often and had a 3-0 lead on the Red Raiders midway through the first half. Senior forward, Tim Felton accounted for all three of the goals.
“I think we came into this game really confident and I think after two or three we felt good about it,” Felton said. “We wanted to come out really strong and finish this game out pretty quickly and get ready for West Side. We’re really excited for that on Monday.”
The Hurricanes (9-7-2) played aggressively on the ball and kept it in the Red Raiders’ zone for most of the game.
“His movement off the ball was exceptional,” Amherst coach Mike Rudd said of Felton’s performance. “He created space for himself so all he had to do was finish, he didn’t have to take a lot of players on him. The lateral runs made space and he did what he’s good at, which is finishing.”
Felton’s second goal came 12 minutes into the game and only 6 minutes after his first. Alex Perry found the senior forward open to the right of the net. Felton received the pass and quickly shot it across the goal into the left side.
“They had a lot of gaps in their defense and that made it pretty easy to slot me through a bunch of times,” Felton said. “One was a one-on-one breakaway with the goalie and then the other I put it in the corner and then the last one I think was just a lucky shot.”
Amherst played the second half with its starters on the bench. However, the second string still managed to put up six goals against the Red Raiders whose bench only consisted of four players.
“By halftime, we sensed that we could run anybody in there and I think the reserves played very well,” Rudd said.
Junior midfielder Tate Rietkerk scored two goals in the last 20 minutes of the game.
Amherst had lost three of its previous four matches prior to Saturday’s game. Felton said those losses lingered in his mind heading into the Hurricanes’ match against Commerce.
“We’ve had a roller coaster of a season,” Felton said. “So many different injuries, so many unexpected things have happened and we try not to dwell on them but I think it’s impossible not to a little bit. But I think it just fuels us to go harder into these games.”
Though the Red Raiders marked the beginning of the playoffs for Amherst, West Springfield was its main focus. The Hurricanes will play the Terriers (13-2-3) in West Springfield at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
“We’ve been preparing for a while and this game was just preparation for that,” Felton said. “We’ll play tomorrow and prepare, but I think we’re ready for this.”