WESTFIELD — Theo Scott saw a dribbling ball and a wide open net.
Amherst Regional senior forward Tate Rietkerk fought off two Minnechaug defenders in the Falcons’ penalty box and tapped the ball back out toward Scott, who was charging from the top of the box.
Seven minutes remained in the second overtime period of the scoreless Western Massachusetts Division 1 boys soccer championship Sunday at Westfield State.
Scott reached the ball before two Minnechaug defenders and Falcon goalie David Wilbridge, and fired a blast to the top-right corner. He immediately turned and outran his teammates toward the Hurricanes student section waving both arms.
“I was like, I just want to hit it clean, get it in the goal,” Scott said.
He did in the 93rd minute, and No. 7 Amherst beat No. 1 Minnechaug 1-0 to reclaim the Western Mass. title after a year hiatus. The Hurricanes will face Central Mass. champion Westborough (13-5-4) at Nashoba Regional at a time and date to be determined.
Despite receiving the seventh seed in the sectional tournament, Amherst (12-7-2) rejected it.
“We know we’re talented. We used the seven seed as motivation,” Amherst senior Samson Heyer said. “We kind of took it as a joke, but it really motivated us.”
The Hurricanes beat the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 1 seed en route to winning the title.
Little separated them from Minnechaug throughout regulation and the first overtime. The Hurricanes’ best chances came from set pieces, but they didn’t allow many good looks from Minnechaug, either.
“We played so disciplined tonight,” Amherst coach Michael Rudd said. “We really understood our roles.”
Falcon senior Michael Rita, who had 27 goals in the regular season — three against Amherst in their previous meeting — faced double and triple teams all night and didn’t find the net.
“We knew we had to keep him under wraps,” Heyer said. “I think we did that really well. Our backfield played amazing. They had to deal with a lot.”
The Hurricanes had to deal with even more injuries. They lost Josiah Wilson and Tim Felton during the game. Already playing with a field player in net after injuries to its top two keepers to start the season, Amherst couldn’t afford for the game to go to a penalty shootout.
“Our No. 1 PK taker in the order was Tim Felton, so obviously we would have had to replace him,” Rudd said. “We’re happy we didn’t have to go into PKs.”
Wilson went down midway through the first half, and Felton dropped with no contact chasing a through ball in the last two minutes of regulation.
Minnechaug (18-2-1) had the ball near Amherst’s penalty box when the final regulation whistle blew.
“I think it had to do with taking advantage of opportunities and creating opportunities,” Minnechaug coach John O’Keefe said. “We didn’t create enough. They had a good opportunity there at the end and capitalized.”
Amherst started its opportunity after Minnechaug midfielder Brendan Plumb couldn’t corral a pass near midfield, and it ended up with Alex Perry. Two passes later Heyer tore down the left side of the field before lofting a ball to Rietkerk in the box. He and Scott did the rest.
“There’s magic behind them,” Rudd said. “There’s gotta be magic.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.