HATFIELD — The Smith Academy boys soccer team might have had the majority of the scoring chances in the first 40 minutes on Monday’s Western Mass. Class D quarterfinal matchup with Pioneer, but they had nothing to show for it on the scoreboard.
The No. 3 Falcons held a 7-0 shot advantage in the first half but Panthers goalie Ryan Potter didn’t allow anything past him to keep it scoreless at the break. That gave No. 6 Pioneer a shot to pull off the upset in the second half.
Riley Intrator had different ideas, however, as the junior blasted home two goals in the second half to march Smith Academy into the semifinals with a 2-0 victory.
“We felt great at the half,” Intrator said. “At halftime, we had no doubt we’d score. We were confident and knew we were doing the right thing. We knew it was going to come. We were passing the ball well, we just needed to tidy up the little things and we did and got two goals out of it.”
Intrator’s first strike came in the 55th minute, capitalizing on an outstanding play in goal from keeper Ryan Belina. The junior goalie punted a ball that made it over the entire Pioneer defense, taking a bounce and landing at Intrator’s feet with only Potter standing in front of him.
Intrator raced in and finished on the breakaway to break the ice and give the Falcons a crucial 1-0 lead.
“I saw my goalie make a beautiful punt,” Intrator said. “I took it on a bounce and kept going. I kept my calm and finished it. I wouldn’t have been able to do that if my goalie didn’t make a perfect punt.”
Panthers coach Ben Tufano was proud of the way his team was able to compete and hang around, but knew the game flipped on its head once the Falcons had one make it to the back of the net.
“That was the changing point in the game,” Tufano said. “The goalie makes a kick 75 yards downfield and beats our defense. That was the moment things changed up for us.”
The matchup was the third of the season between Smith Academy and Pioneer, the first matchup a 3-0 Falcons win but the second game ended in a 0-0 tie with the Panthers making things difficult for the explosive Smith Academy offense.
Falcons coach Jason Duncan knew it wouldn’t be easy to come out with a win, crediting the Pioneer defense for once again sticking back and not giving Smith Academy any easy looks on goal.
“I felt like we were doing some good things but the longer it stayed 0-0, the more dangerous Pioneer becomes,” Duncan said. “Defensively, they played really well. We couldn’t get anything by [Pioneer defender Gavin Gammell] all game. I don’t think he made a single mistake all game. Pioneer plays hard. Last time we played them, they packed it in and clogged everything up in the back. We had to pick our spots and, finally, it paid off.”
The Falcons tallied an insurance goal in the 66th minute. Intrator weaved just outside the box, made a touch pass to Ben Hudzik, who gave it right back to Intrator on a give-and-go, with the junior finishing to the left side of the net to make it a 2-0 game.
Duncan felt the goals were coming after the strong first 40 minutes.
“We kept doing the same things we did in the first half, it just finally paid off,” Duncan said. “We pressured their back a lot and were finally able to find one. It’s good to get the first win.”
Potter finished with nine saves in goal while Belina was only called into action once, though the Panthers had multiple shots that grazed just over the Falcon goal.
For a young Panthers team, getting into the tournament by closing out the season 2-3-4 in their final nine games showed the progress they’ve made throughout the year.
“Any time when over half your roster are freshmen, you’re happy to make a tournament game,” Tufano said. “I’m really proud of these guys. We have some tall, strong freshmen that will be coming up these next couple years. They’ve progressed so far this year. The second half they came to life and I’m proud of the young guys who competed and played tougher than they should have.”
Smith Academy advanced to play No. 2 Hopkins Academy in the semifinals Wednesday in Hadley.