ORANGE — The Mahar boys soccer team put up a fight against the defending Division 4 state champs on Thursday at the Woodward Complex.
It was a back-and-forth game throughout the first half, but the visiting Eagles were able to take the lead at the half following a late tally before intermission.
Easthampton scored early in the second half to gain a two-goal cushion, but the Senators fought back and found the back of the net themselves to cut the deficit to one. Easthampton didn’t let Mahar score the equalizer however, as the Eagles held on for a 2-1 Moriarty League victory.
It was the second win in a row for Easthampton (4-3-1, 4-2), which is looking to build some momentum as the season heads into peak stretch.
“It’s good to get two wins in a row,” Easthampton coach Andrew Lawrence said. “Our possession was good today. I’d like to get more shots on goal but I thought we did a good job possessing, passing and finding feet which we’ve been working on all year.”
The Senators (2-5-1, 1-5-1) have made significant progress in the past week, picking up a win against Lenox, playing South Hadley close for 60 minutes, and earning a tie with Mount Everett before playing the Eagles to the one-goal margin on Thursday.
After playing six games in the last nine days, Mahar coach Dan Guertin said he feels his squad has simply run out of gas late in some recent tilts.
“We’ve been focused on making progress,” Guertin said. “We had South Hadley 2-2 but we were gassed and all of a sudden it’s a 5-2 [loss] but that’s not really what it was all game. Then against Mount Everett, we had to come back. We have our center mid out and one of our forwards barely walking.”
Mateo Navarro opened up the scoring for Easthampton on Thursday, doing so in the 30th minute on a corner kick. The ball bounced in the box and after a series of deflections, Navarro was able to rise up and head the ball over the outstretched arms of Senator goalie Tristan Gaj, giving the Eagles the early 1-0 lead.
It took the Eagles just two minutes into the second half to double their advantage. An initial shot was saved off the line by a Mahar defender, but the ball deflected back to Easthampton’s Ethan Marowitz and the senior buried it into the open net to give the Eagles a 2-0 cushion.
Mahar answered in the 49th minute to get back in the game, scoring on a corner of its own. Dom Whitman sent the ball in where Jaxson Archambault headed it home, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The Senators worked the rest of the way to find the equalizer, nearly knocking in a free kick, but nothing else got past Easthampton keeper Guiseppe DeNucci-Simms.
“It was good we got that one early in the second half,” Guertin said. “We had some time left to try to tie it. They were strong and quick in the back which took away what we were trying to do. Credit to them. We had a good chance on a free kick that went over a little bit. There was a lot of progress made from this group.”
Guertin said he’s seen major improvement from his defense throughout the season, which showed in the second half when it slowed down a fierce Eagles attack.
“I have to give our defense a lot of credit,” Guertin said. “They’ve improved their positioning to put us in better spots. It’s not like they got better at dribbling and kicking, it’s more of the mental aspect where they’ve improved.”
For Easthampton, Lawrence said he’s starting to see his team play the way he wants as it chases a second straight state title.
“It’s been a battle,” Lawrence said. “A lot of it is the mentality. We know what we need to do. It’s just trusting that we can do it. Even though it’s 2-1 today, we were doing a lot of good things and it’s starting to come together. Against South Hadley [Tuesday] when we scored, it was everything built back up to where we were last year. It’s taking longer but we’re getting there.”