Raising the Division 4 state championship trophy last season affixed a target on the Easthampton boys soccer team. The Eagles have embraced the accompanying scrutiny as they begin their title defense.
“I take that as a compliment. We’re state champs. Everyone’s going to be gunning for us,” Easthampton senior Matthew Bacis said.
They’re not coasting on others glories, either. Easthampton only graduated five seniors, three of whom started. Granted, that included their top two scorers Carter Heber (20 goals, 15 assists) and Carter Daughdrill (13 goals, 10 assists), but the Eagles will replace individual excellence with collective effort.
“Amazing players and just a lot of pure, raw talent. This year to make up for that loss, we’re gonna have to just work,” senior Ethan Marowitz said. “We’re a big, strong, physical team with less raw talent, but I think that we can work pretty much outwork any team.”
Coach Andrew Lawrence regularly reminds the team how much work it took to reach the final last season. He reinforces the face that those trophies aren’t handed out on whims.
“It’s been tough. I think the biggest focus is just trying to remind them it happened. It was awesome. And that is our goal, to at least be in the state final game again,” he said. “But we need to have the same work ethic that we had last year and not just expecting like it’s owed to us.”
Seniors Javier Denucce-Simms (10 goals, three assists), Mateo Navarro (11 goals, seven assists) and Marowitz (four goals, four assists) will step into larger roles. Easthampton returned its entire back line that will shore up the defense. The Eagles will also rely on younger players to contribute and not defer to established seniors.
“We know that we just have to find a new way to play together as a new team,” Navarro said.
RUMORS OF DEMISE GREATLY EXAGGERATED – Don’t bury Belchertown. The Orioles graduated 12 seniors from last year’s Western Massachusetts Class B championship squad that also reached the Div. 3 state final. They don’t plan on stopping at three sectional titles in a row.
“We have something every team wants. We’re looking for that title again,” Belchertown senior Kaden Houle said.
Graduating 12 seniors would decimate many programs. Belchertown prepared itself by rotating players in over the past few seasons and building a stable of players hungry for more minutes.
“Everyone’s saying that we got a lot worse than last year. I don’t really think that’s the case,” senior Jack Holt said. “These guys all want to win. They know that they’re playing for a winning program. They want to be a part of the success that we’ve had.”
Holt led the team with 17 goals last year, while Houle put away five. Belchertown relied on balanced scoring, but many of those players graduated. Defender Nate Oldenburg has comfortably stepped into the heart of Belchertown’s defense and will anchor that effort.
Coach Zach Siano has emphasized conditioning because Belchertown will have to lean on its starters more than it traditionally has.
“We look at ourselves as one of the deepest programs, if not in Western Mass., in the state. We just don’t have that depth, so we’ve talked to these guys about their conditioning and how our 11 starters are going to have to play bigger minutes than they have in the past,” Siano said.
REDHAWKS EYEING RETURN – With the talent Frontier returns, another run to the state final isn’t out of the question. The club lost to Easthampton in the Div. 4 final.
Now comes the challenge of going from the hunter to the hunted. The Redhawks won’t be sneaking up on anyone this year. Through the preseason, Frontier is trying to fade that noise and focus on getting better as a team.
“We’re just trying to progress and work together as a team,” senior Ngawang Deter said. “We can’t really get upset or be tilted off of the path we have to create for ourselves. We can’t let other teams get into our mindset and disrupt us. We have to progress as a team and make it through to the end of the season.”
The hard work and energy required to reach the title game is something Frontier is well aware of. The experience last year showed the returning players what it takes, and those seniors are trying to pass that message down to the new players.
“We have to set the standard for the team for everyone else,” Deter said. “We have to set that standard high just like last year. At first nobody knew what that standard was. Now we know what it is and what quality of play we need to get to that spot again. We’re relaying that to the younger guys.”
NEW LOOK RAIDERS – Hampshire won’t look like the team that played for a Western Massachusetts championship and reached the Division 4 Final Four. The Raiders graduated two all-state players and have five returning starters. Charlie Por will be a force in the defensive half, breaking up plays and slowing down transition. Junior Aidan Miklasiewicz led the team in both goals (23) and assists (14).
“We have to create our own identity,” Hampshire coach Dan Moynahan said. “You hope the experience these players gained in these big moments will help them handle the pressure better the next time around.
But Hampshire will be defined by its versatility as much as its individual skills.
“This is the closest thing we’ve come to a total football team,” Moynahan said, referring to the Dutch tactical system where any player can assume the role of another. “They have the soccer intelligence to move around in different positions.”
DIDN’T YOU GRADUATE? – Smith Academy goalie Ryan Belina has manned the woodwork in Hatfield for five years. He started as an eighth grader and is approaching 400 saves for his career.
He’s one of two five-year varsity players for the Western Mass Class D champion Falcons along with Logan Graves.
“To watch them grow and the bonds they form is pretty cool,” Smith Academy coach Jason Duncan said.
Smith Academy only graduated four players from last year’s Division 5 state tournament team. The Falcons also bring back leading scorer Riley Intrator (19 goals, 10 assists) and Cam Zononi, whose 11 assists were among the most in Western Mass.
NO NEED FOR UPSETS – Amherst is working with its fourth coach in four years under new manager Michael Travis. The Hurricanes upended the No. 20 and No. 4 seeds to reach the quarterfinals of last year’s Division 2 state tournament after an atypical sub-.500 regular season.
NO FLUKE – Northampton qualified for the postseason for the first time since 2016. The Blue Devils amassed as many wins in 2021 (13) as in the previous six years.
“I came into the program and it was like horrible historically,” senior captain Conor Stiles said. “I want to show to other towns that we’re not a joke. It feels like we were in the past.”
They reached the Division 2 Round of 32 last year thanks to a late, dramatic winner. Northampton wants to make that not just a watershed moment to look up at, but a steeping stone to continue up from.
Senior captain John Senn-McNally, an All-State selection, led ’Hamp with 11 goals and 11 assists in 2021. The Blue Devils also return keeper Koa Klose and sophomore Ryland Breen (four goals, three assists). Their Nos. 2, 3 and 4 scorers moved on, but second-year coach CJ Holt hopes the culture Northampton has started to build will empower players to step into those roles.
“We expect more. There was a certain level of pride that they started to feel with their program, rather than just a fall after-school activity, it became something that they really looked forward to, and that they got the respect from their opponents by the way we approached the game,” Holt said. “We’re not on the map yet, but the boys are definitely mindful of getting on the map.”
YEAR OF THE TIGER – South Hadley has lost in the first round of the last three postseasons. A class of 14 seniors that includes eight of 11 returning starters hopes all that experience will help this be the year they beak through.
“They’re tired of losing in the playoffs. They want to have a run,” South Hadley coach Eric Castonguay said. “I don’t think it’s anything where they’re dwelling on the downside of the pattern every year of not winning a game. Some of that’s coaching, too. I gotta put them in a position to do better.”
REDEMPTION RAMS – Granby entered last year’s PVIAC Class D tournament as the No. 1 seed but fell at home against Mount Everett. The Rams reached the state Division 5 Round of 16, but they graduated their leading scorer Liam Brown (24 goals) and five other players.
Granby, however, returned its entire back line including its keeper. Carter White and Rob L’Abbee will anchor a unit that the Rams will lean on as they find goal scorers.
“That will be the backbone of our team,” Granby coach Todd Dorman said.
YOUNG HAWKS HOPE TO FLY – Hopkins Academy brings back 57.7 percent of its goals and 68.6 percent of its assists from last season despite graduating eight seniors. Senior Patrick Fitzgibbons led the way with 13 goals (six assists), while freshman Teddy Cyr paced the team with 11 assists as an eighth grader.
The WMass Class D semifinalists can also count on senior Cody West (10 assists), senior Max Pichizaca (seven goals, four assists) and junior Dom Aloisi (three goals four assists), among others.
FIVE FOR FIGHTING – After operating with four classes last season, the WMass boys soccer tournaments will use five classes this fall that more closely mirror the five statewide divi sions.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.