SPRINGFIELD — Kayla Henry sent a high arching shot toward the goal.
A couple of inches lower and it likely would have gone in. But it hit the crossbar with 15 minutes, 48 seconds left in the scoreless first half of the Western Massachusetts Division 1 girls soccer semifinal between Belchertown and West Springfield.
Something had to give in a game that saw both teams play razor-sharp defense and the difference was Daesia Andrew’s goal midway through the second half that lifted No. 1 West Springfield to a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Belchertown at Berte Field Wednesday night.
West Side (16-3-1) advances to the sectional final against No. 2 Ludlow (14-4-2). Belchertown ended its season at 11-4-5.
Belchertown goalkeeper Samantha Birks was outstanding with 20 saves, including several testers that kept the Orioles in the game.
“I thought Sam had one of her best games,” Belchertown coach Chris Mogavero said.
But the Orioles were hardly a one-person team.
“This was a well-fought game,” Mogavero said. “West Side is a quality team and our girls played hard. We just didn’t get the goal and they did.”
Belchertown wiped out the bad memory of a non-playoff season in 2015 and were close to reaching the finals.
The Orioles came close on several scoring opportunities, but were not able to cash in.
“It’s not as frustrating as it is disappointing,” Henry said. “We put everything we had into this game because we knew we wanted to go as far as possible and leave everything on the field.”
Had Henry’s shot gone in instead of hitting the crossbar, the Orioles could have had momentum.
“For sure,” Mogavero said. “We had our chances and had that shot gone in, it’s a different game.”
Belchertown struggled to mount pressure for most of the first half. The second half was much better for the Orioles.
“We really turned things around in the second half and played very well,” Mogavero said.
The Terriers broke the scoreless tie when Andrews drilled a hard shot past Birks. Meghan McMahon set up the goal.
“Daesia’s a good forward and she was able to get that one chance and score,” Mogavero said.
Belchertown split the regular season series with West Side. Belchertown won the first game, 1-0, but lost the second one, 4-1.
“This was a much closer game than the last time we played them,” Mogavero said.
Among the defensive standouts for the Orioles were Tess Gadoury.
“I thought she did an outstanding job playing defensive center as did Ava Laporte and Livy White,” Mogavero said.
It was the final game for seniors Lyndsey Flemming, Lauren LeBlanc, Lauryn Parent, Hannah Sugrue and Henry.