HATFIELD — The Smith Academy boys soccer team was a mere win away from qualifying for the postseason for the first time since 2014.
However, the Falcons lost 3-0 to Pioneer Regional in their regular-season finale Tuesday, ending their season short of the tournament for the third year in a row.
Smith Academy (7-9-2, 7-5-0 McGrath) started the game slow and never seemed to get its footing, spending a majority of the game on the defensive end. Starting goalkeeper Matt Bouley (seven saves) made several acrobatic saves, including a diving stop against a bicycle kick by Pioneer’s Jordan Loughman (goal).
Gram Hancock-Pezatti took over goalkeeping duties in the second half and made three saves.
“I don’t think that the boys came out there ready to play,” Smith Academy coach Jason Duncan said. “They didn’t have that do-or-die mentality needed for the final game of the season.”
Leading 2-0 at the end of the first half, Pioneer Valley moved the ball from one side of the field to the other without much interference. As the minutes ticked down in the second half, Smith attempted to play a more aggressive style but to no avail. A Dana McRae (assist) goal off a free kick pushed the Panthers lead to 3-0.
Before the game, Smith Academy held a small ceremony honoring the three seniors on the squad. Bouley, Liam Pitrat and Zane Wendolowski all played their final games.
Bouley is one of Smith’s fastest players, but at the start of the season he stepped in to play goalkeeper. He also plays shortstop for the Smith Academy baseball team in the spring.
“Matt’s a true leader,” Duncan said. “He saw at the beginning of the season that we needed a goalie and he decided to take over the position to show the young guys what it means to be a leader on this team.”
Pitrat was Smith’s best scorer and led the team with 10 goals.
Wendolowski had Smith’s best scoring opportunity against Pioneer. Early in the first half of a scoreless game, Wendolowski rifled a shot that got too much air under it and ricocheted off the post. It was one of four shots on net for the Falcons.
With six freshmen in the starting lineup and seven on the squad in total, the Falcons were an extremely young team. The experience should pay off in the future.
“Our team is made up of primarily freshmen and sophomores. We’ll be back next year,” Duncan said.
With the win, Pioneer Valley (13-2-1, 9-2-1) splits the McGrath championship with Mahar.
Soccer seeds will be announced at noon at Southwick Regional Wednesday.