AMHERST — There were 13 minutes remaining in a scoreless Western Massachusetts Division 1 quarterfinal when Agawam’s center back passed it back to his keeper.
The ball never reached its intended target.
Tate Rietkirk burst onto the scene, intercepted the pass and drilled the ball into the far corner of the net to send Amherst Regional into the next round.
The Hurricanes won 3-0 and will play No. 2 Longmeadow, in the semifinals, Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Springfield Center.
“I’ve been playing on this field for four years,” Rietkirk said. “Last time on the field, I wasn’t going to let us go out with an ‘L’. I had to do something.”
Rietkirk’s goal broke a deadlock that looked unbreakable for 67 minutes. Amherst sent a deluge of shots toward the Agawam net in the first half, but Ben Mielnikowski and the defense kept the Hurricanes at bay.
“We really just wanted to get this game over with,” Amherst coach Michael Rudd said. “Agawam’s a nice team. They’re well organized, they’re well coached and we knew if would definitely be a challenge, especially in these conditions.”
Amherst’s first chance came five minutes into the match when Theo Scott forced the Agawam keeper to make a leaping one-handed save. Agawam cleared the rebound but the Hurricanes immediately won a free kick. Brayan Rivas Martinez stepped up and sent in a floated cross that hung dangerously above the penalty spot, but Mielnikowski burst off his line to punch it away.
Seven minutes later, Amherst’s Malcolm Blinder chased down an opponent and won the ball with a tackle near the sideline. Blinder injured his leg in the tackle and an ambulance took him off the field. He gave the crowd a thumbs up as the stretcher rolled him out.
The Hurricanes soldiered on without their left back and were soon on the attack again. Amherst’s attacking players made the most of the slippery conditions on a field that had seen its share of rain. Colton Spirko in particular used his opponent’s uncertain footing to dribble past defenders all game long.
Agawam’s best chance of the half came with nine minutes remaining. After Mielnikowski scooped up a long-range volley, the Brownies went on the counterattack. Connor Montagna almost finished the move with a curling shot from inside the box, but Lucas Morales-Fernandez got a hand to the ball. Amherst’s keeper kept it out of the far corner and the half finished scoreless.
Six minutes into the second half, Victor Wellman toasted two defenders down the right wing and drove into the box. He pulled his foot back to shoot, but an Agawam defender slid in to knock the ball away for a corner. Wellman sent the corner flying into the box, where it bounced around in a chaotic scramble before Mielnikowski dove on the ball.
The Hurricanes continued to press and press but couldn’t capitalize until Rietkirk’s tally. The senior midfielder read the back pass and realized it did not have the pace it needed on the soggy surface. Rietkirk added plenty of pace to the ball when he fired it past Mielnikowski to make it 1-0.
Amherst added two more. With six minutes left, Marshall Hanke found Paolo Schultz-Lyra hovering at the edge of the box. Schultz-Lyra received the pass, cut back across his defender and curled the ball into the bottom-corner.
With two minutes on the clock, Ethan Lefebvre picked his head up 25 yards out from goal. Then he looked back down at the ball resting at his feet and sent a laser screaming into the top-corner. After the final whistle blew, the Hurricanes jogged across the field in a bleached blonde line to celebrate with their fans.
“We already beat Longmeadow,” Rietkirk said. “I think we’re definitely quietly confident and just all excited and all ready.”