WESTHAMPTON — Dan Martin prides himself on being in the right place at the right time.
Such was the case on Friday night, and his nose for the ball helped the Hampshire Regional boys soccer team to a share of the Holley League title.
The sophomore finished a cross from teammate Brendan Stevenson on the back post, charging hard and heading home a volley with authority for the game’s only goal. Martin’s strike came with 26 minutes, 28 seconds remaining in the second half, and lifted the Raiders to a 1-0 victory over Chicopee Comp on Senior Night at Dorunda Field.
The win avenged an early-season 4-0 loss to the Colts, and the two programs shared the Holley regular season title with identical 12-1-1 league marks. Hampshire finished its regular season with an overall 13-1-2 record.
“It was really exciting,” said Martin. “We all worked hard, it wasn’t just an individual effort. There wasn’t one player who didn’t put their heart into it. That’s what we talked about, wanting it more than they did.”
A win was the only result that would lift Hampshire into a first-place tie. The Raiders dominated the first half, but a plethora of offensive opportunities went by the wayside and the squads headed into halftime scoreless.
That all changed less than 14 minutes into the second half. Tim Slate started the scoring play with a long throw-in from around midfield, and the ball found Stevenson close to the goal area. He held possession, muscled off a defender and spun around in time to fire off a floating cross toward the back post. No one had eyes on Martin, who sprinted into the picture, rose and belted a header into the back of the net.
“My dad calls me the trash man. I’m always there when the ball is loose,” Martin said. “I just try to put the ball in the back of the net, nothing flashy. I trust Brendan Stevenson, he sends beautiful passes all the time so I knew he was going to place it around my head. I just had to be there, and put it in. And that’s what I did.”
Hampshire’s defense of Dybacki, Owen Paquette and Ayden St. Martin shut down the Colts from there, and goalie Liam Pond stopped all six shots he faced. Pond did a nice job shutting down Comp’s long passes, playing aggressively off his line.
Comp (13-2-1), which lost for the first time all season, went down to 10 players with 16:41 remaining in the second half after Davian Cruz was shown a red card after a dangerous flying tackle against Hampshire striker Aidan Miklasiewicz.
“We took that first loss personally and left it all on the field,” said Martin of the early-season defeat. “We deserved the win tonight, we played hard, and I’m happy with the result.”
South Hadley 10, Holyoke 0 — Charlie Anischik put away five goals, and the Tigers cruised to a 10-0 win on Friday night.
Other Tigers to find the back of the net were Colin Quinn, Ben Foley, Braden Joy, Caleb Menard and Moki Kovacs.
Holyoke goalie Landon Koziara made 13 saves.
Westborough 3, Frontier 2 — The Redhawks battled the top team in Division 2, but ultimately fell in a tight five-set match on Friday in South Deerfield.
“Very proud of our effort tonight and it was a great match to prepare for the tournament,” Frontier coach Sean MacDonald said.
Eve Dougan had 15 kills and Caroline Deane added 13 for the Hawks. Sydney Scanlon dished out 30 assists and Deane led the defense with 20 digs.
Agawam 5, Northampton 0 — Charlotte Johnson Mersack made 22 saves in the Northampton net, but visiting Agawam stormed to a 4-0 halftime lead and captured an independent victory on Friday.
Shayda Gabriella scored twice for the Brownies.
Frontier 7, South Hadley 0 — The goals came early and often for the Frontier Regional field hockey team, as the Redhawks closed out their regular season slate with a convincing 7-0 win over South Hadley in a Suburban League contest on Friday.
Rebecca Wallace-West tallied a pair of goals for Frontier (8-2-6, 5-2-5), while Stella Heflin, Ashley Taylor, Ashlie Galenski, Bella Orrell (first varsity goal) and Rowan Reilly all found the back of the net. Claire Kirkendall dished out a pair of assists.
Frontier goalies Ella Flanders and Kyra Richards combined for two saves in the shutout win.
Holyoke 3, Amherst 0 — Siobhan Armstrong buried a pair of goals in the Purple Knights’ 3-0 County League win on Friday.
Aiden McCarthy also tallied, and Samantha Brennan picked up two assists. Isabella Murphy made three saves for the shutout.