EASTHAMPTON — The fourth-seeded Easthampton boys soccer team dominated Friday night, defeating No. 13 Mahar, 4-0, in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament first round.
The Eagles will host the winner between No. 12 Sabis (10-5-1) and No. 5 Hampshire Regional (8-4-3) at a date and time to be determined. Hampshire and Sabis play at 4 p.m., Saturday at Holyoke High School.
After some missed opportunities early, the Eagles took advantage of a penalty drawn by Mohamed Zabir. Nic Soucy found the net on a penalty kick to give the Eagles the lead with just under 28 minutes to play in the first half.
Easthampton (16-2-1) built off its strong start, continuing to apply the pressure. Chris Williams found Adam Johndrow at the right side of the net to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead with 19 minutes left in the half.
Seven minutes later, Easthampton stretched its lead even more. After a strong defensive play from Soucy to keep the ball alive at midfield, Dylan Schmidt scored off an assist from Zabir as the Eagles took a commanding 3-0 lead. Henry Ferland scored shortly after on a Tyler Karakula assist to take a 4-0 lead into halftime.
“We were kind of a little nervous in the beginning but we settled in and once we got that first goal it really got our guys going, playing a little harder,” Easthampton coach Mike Soucy said. “Great first half.”
Easthampton struggled offensively down the stretch of the regular season and Soucy made sure to have his experienced group prepared for the postseason.
“You know last couple of days of training we worked on a few things,” Soucy said. “We’ve been a little stagnant on offense to be honest, so we worked on that and pushed them in training and got their heads in the right direction. Honestly, this is a pretty senior-leading group and so they’re motivated. They just wanted to go out there and play, didn’t have to say too much.”
Soucy thought the team could play better.
“I think we just need to find a way to play a full 80 minutes,” he said. “You know stay mentally sharp and not make mental mistakes. Physical mistakes are going to happen, but mental mistakes usually hurt you in the playoffs.”
Drew Caires had one save for the Eagles, while Logan Dodge had 10 saves for Mahar.