SOUTH HADLEY – Amherst boys soccer coach Andrew Kovacs felt the Hurricanes were peaking at the right time.
They staggered through the regular season with 10 losses, but MIAA Division 2 Tournament road victories over No. 13 Silver Lake and No. 4 Plymouth North gave the ’Canes confidence they could reach the Final Four.
That next road trip will have to wait. The 21st-seeded Canton Bulldogs punched in the lone goal midway through the second half to send No. 20 Amherst home with a 1-0 loss in quarterfinal action at South Hadley High School on Saturday night.
“We were just a game or two away from them finding the system we developed over the year,” Kovacs said. “Every game they would find it a little better and they did that again tonight. The goals just didn’t come.”
Amherst senior Aengus Cox said he didn’t expect much when the season started, but as it progressed Cox felt something special was brewing. The trip to the quarterfinals confirmed that.
“I think we played well,” Cox said. “This is the best team we’ve played.”
Goal opportunities were in high demand as Amherst (8-11-2) and Canton (13-4-4) played an even match mostly over the inner third of the field.
Cox had the best opportunity for an Amherst goal. In the 24th minute the midfielder let a shot fly from about 30-35 yards out that rang off the crossbar.
Canton struck with about 17 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the second half. The Bulldogs chased down a deep ball in the corner. It was played back to Jake McCabe at the hash marks. McCabe sent a low shot from 25 yards out that bounced off the far post and past a diving Yahsiel DeviDalomba.
“It was a pretty typical chance created by high school play,” Kovacs said.
Amherst had a strong attack minutes earlier. Cox took possession at midfield and crossed to Jonathan Klein in front of the Amherst bench. Klein’s shot was saved but Amherst stayed on the attack. Carlson Rose, who was blanketed by Canton’s defense all game, found space in the box but couldn’t get a solid foot on the ball.
The game grew physical as it progressed. With about two minutes left, Amherst’s Cristian Morocho and Canton’s Charlie McKinney each drew a yellow card after clashing at midfield following a foul.
Canton will play the winner of Sunday’s quarterfinal between No. 1 East Longmeadow and No. 8 Nauset. No. 7 Longmeadow and No. 6 West Springfield will play in the other semifinal.
“We lost a lot of games early on in the season just to figure out what we wanted to do and how to do it,” Kovacs said. “Then, after that, every game we learned a lot. The last game we played in the regular season we lost 2-1 to Ludlow with 10 men. That was the beginning of them really starting to play well together.”