SOUTH HADLEY — Eighty minutes stretched over the course of two days didn’t deter the Hampshire Regional boys soccer team.
The top-seeded Raiders scored twice on Saturday, and tacked on two more goals in action Sunday to notch a 4-0 win over No. 8 Wahconah in the MIAA Division 4 quarterfinals at South Hadley High School.
The game was postponed on Saturday at halftime due to poor weather conditions with Hampshire holding a 2-0 lead. It was finished with the final 40 minutes played on Sunday.
“I’ve never played one game over two days so it was super weird,” offered Hampshire senior Grady Fern. “We worked so hard to get that lead (on Saturday). We knew the weather was coming in so we knew we had to jump on them.”
When Saturday’s portion of the game was called at halftime due to lightning, Hampshire led 2-0 behind a pair of goals by Michael Thibault.
The junior opened the scoring in the 22nd minute for the Raiders. Liam Illingsworth raced up the right sideline and crossed the ball to Thibault on the left side of the box, who headed it into the right corner of the net to put Hampshire ahead, 1-0.
Wahconah’s Brody Calvert had a chance to tie the game 1-1 in the 26th minute after getting behind the Hampshire defense, but Raider goalie Elan Kuntz stuck his leg out and made a save with his foot to keep Wahconah off the scoreboard.
Thibault’s second goal was earned by freshman Dan Martin. Martin got into the Wahconah box and drew a penalty, leading to a penalty kick.
Thibault took the PK, burying it into the bottom right corner of the goal to give the Raiders a 2-0 advantage in the 28th minute.
When played resumed Sunday, it was Wahconah that pressed in the opening five minutes of the second half. The Warriors, pushing for their first goal to cut into the deficit, won multiple corner kicks and peppered Kuntz and the Hampshire defense.
“We got off to a horrible start there,” admitted Hampshire coach Dan Moynahan of the second half on Sunday. “We knew the next goal was the important goal. If they score, then it’s a new game but if we could get the third goal, I felt like we could manage the game with a lot more confidence.”
Hampshire indeed got that third goal, less than five minutes into the second half. Senior Sam Barnes took a free kick pass from Fern, and put a bouncing shot from distance on Wahconah goalie Zack Flaherty. The ball was bobbled by Flaherty however, and Martin crashed hard for a rebound that he deposited into the back of the net to make it 3-0.
“The start was a bit stressful,” Barnes said of the second half on Sunday. “They ran at us but we were able to stop it and find that goal. Grady saw I had space so I had time and just threw the ball on net. It worked out for us.”
Aidan Moynahan sealed the deal with a goal midway through the second half to secure the 4-0 win and a spot in the semifinal round.
Hampshire will play No. 4 Frontier on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in a game to be played at Chicopee Comp.
Easthampton 2, Pope Francis 1 — It was a wild final 15 minutes in South Hadley to decide who would move on to the MIAA Div. 4 semifinals between No. 2 Easthampton and No. 10 Pope Francis.
Javier DeNucce-Simms broke a scoreless tie with 12 minutes to go after tucking in a shot from outside the box to put the Eagles ahead, 1-0.
Five minutes later Easthampton made it 2-0 with Anais Isaza Malloy blasting home a rebound. The Cardinals answered with a goal from Declan Sears off a corner, but they were unable to score a second as the Eagles walked away with a 2-1 victory.
Easthampton moves on to face No. 3 Rockland in the semifinals. That game will be played Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Doyle Field in Leominster.
No. 1 Cohasset 3, No. 8 Hampshire 0 – Weather impacted the Div. 4 quarterfinal in Cohasset Saturday night, as a delay interrupted play in the opening half. The host Skippers ultimately did all their scoring in the opening 40 minutes en route to a 3-0 win.
Cohasset will play No. 4 Millbury in the Div. 4 semifinal round on Tuesday night.
Hampshire Regional goalies Makena Rogalski and Delaney Cantwell combined for action between the pipes.