HADLEY – The Hopkins Academy boys soccer team defeated Pioneer Regional, 2-1, Saturday in the Western Massachusetts Division 4 Tournament first round.
Seventh-seeded Hopkins Academy (8-9-2) will visit No. 2 Lenox (13-2-3) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinal round.
Hopkins struck first when Nathan Kelley tapped in a loose ball inside the box in the 15th minute. The Golden Hawks dominated ball possession and did not allow a single shot on goalkeeper Adam Yahman in the first half.
“I think we played well in the first half, we came out and put pressure on them and got a quick goal and kept them on their back foot for the entire first half,” said Hopkins senior Oliver Rodgers.
The Golden Hawks added a second tally in the fifth minute of the second half when team scoring leader sophomore Douglas Pierce scored from inside the box.
The Panthers fought back in a contested second half and got on the board in 58th minute when sophomore Nathan Mousseau put a feed up into the box, where fellow sophomore John Loud got his head on it to push it over Yahman’s long reach to cut Hopkins’ lead to one.
“In the second half we came out and I think we felt a little bit too comfortable with a one-goal lead then we should have been,” said Rodgers.
The Golden Hawks held that lead behind a strong defensive game, holding the Panthers to only two shots on goal.
Pioneer coach Don Fraser said his team achieved its goals on the season, finishing with a winning record (9-8-2) and making the tournament.
“Hopkins is a good team, very well-coached team and we lost 2-1, nothing to be sad about there and I’m proud of our effort, 100 percent,” said Fraser.
Hopkins coach C.J. Holt was frustrated with his team’s inability to score more goals on its 12 shots, but was please with the victory.
“We were only able to get one goal at halftime when we probably created enough chances to have a few more, but we’ve been living dangerously all year so we were not in uncharted territory to be protecting a one goal lead,” said Holt.