SOUTH HADLEY – All of Chicopee Comp’s defensive attention fixated on South Hadley senior striker Charlie Anischik.
The Tigers fed him long passes all night expecting him to bring them down and conjure magic. Not an unreasonable expectation given the talent he possesses, but one he didn’t meet for 47 minutes in Saturday’s Western Massachusetts Class B boys soccer semifinal.
It turned out No. 2 South Hadley didn’t need sorcery but sleight of hand to dazzle Chicopee Comp keeper Luke Theroux. Watch Ben Foley burst down the right side, tiling the defensive shape. Shade that way, leave one fewer defender than Anischik demands.
“He just turned on the jet down the sideline,” South Hadley coach Eric Castonguay said.
Foley snapped an inch-perfect cross into the box, where Anischik met it with a glancing header to end the shutout in the 47th minute.
“I know going into the game I was gonna be their main focus. I had been for a little bit,” Anischik said. “After that goal, all my nerves went away, my frustration went away. I was glad to be up 1-0 against a really good Comp team.”
The Tigers tacked on an insurance goal in the final five minutes to sew up a 2-0 victory and reach the sectional final. South Hadley (15-1-2) will face top-seeded Belchertown, which is aiming for its fourth title in a row after besting Hampshire in overtime in the other semifinal. They’ll meet at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Holyoke High School.
“In soccer out here in Western Mass. there’s Belchertown, there’s Ludlow and then it seems to be kind of everyone else fitting in there,” Castonguay said. “ I think that we are going to be up for that challenge because we know we’re not going to be favored in that match. But these guys don’t quit, and they’re physical. Anything can really happen in the tournament, so we’re gonna come swinging away.”
The volatile nature of tournament soccer kept the Tigers on edge for most of the second half despite their possession advantages. They knew one mistake or moment from the Colts would knot the game.
South Hadley’s defense, as it has all year, held up its end of the bargain. Keeper Eddie Wykowski turned away all seven shots he faced, as the Tigers notched their ninth shutout of the season.
“What’s great about this team is we think defense first. We keep it safe there and then we press up top and whatever happens, happens,” Castonguay said. “We’re starting to shut out some pretty good teams here.”
But one more goal never hurts. Comp took Theroux out of the goal to use his talents further up the field and pressed numbers forward. The Tigers absorbed the pressure and countered as often as it could. Anischik brought the ball into open space and sent it up the right sideline to Carlos David. He worked around the Colts keeper and dropped the ball to a wide open Jack Chagnon, a sophomore defender by trade pressed into service as a forward. He had the whole net to shoot at and didn’t miss in the last five minutes, securing his first varsity goal and a spot in the final.
“It was really sick. I was really scared because if I missed that I would have been so sad. It was a great moment,” Chagnon said. “I just wasn’t really thinking, I just shot.”
Smith Academy 1, Mount Everett 0 – Riley Intrator converted a penalty kick Sunday to send the defending champion Falcons back to the final.
Ryan Belina kept out all five shots No. 1 Smith Academy faced to earn the clean sheet.
Granby 1, Monson 0 – Jaxton Roy found the net in the 25th minute for the Rams on Saturday to set up their third matchup of the season with Schmid League rival Smith Academy in the final. They’ll face off at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Agawam High School.
Granby’s Johnny Santiago assisted the goal. Daniel Gauvin kept a clean sheet with three saves for No. 2 Granby.
Smith Academy and Granby drew their first two matchups, 0-0.
Frontier 1, Pope Francis 0 – For the first 20 minutes of the second half, it seemed inevitable that the go-ahead goal was coming for the Frontier boys soccer team.
The third-seeded Redhawks were dominating possession and creating offensive chances against No. 2 Pope Francis in the semifinal round of the Western Mass. Class C Tournament. That’s been the case at times throughout the season for Frontier, but head coach Evan Horton said there’s been no guarantee that offensive pressure has correlated to goals.
“We’ve had those games where we’re chipping away, chipping away, and it never really comes,” offered Horton.
Enter Brady Burch.
The senior forward cashed in for the Hawks, and sent them through to the Western Mass. final in the process. Chanhee Son delivered a cross midway through the second half, and Burch buried it, scoring the only goal of the game to lift Frontier to a 1-0 victory.
“Give Brady Burch a couple inches and he’s going to put the ball in the net,” said Horton.
Frontier’s defense, buoyed by a standout performance on the outside from junior Jack Storm, shutting down a dangerous Pope Francis attack. Goalie Owen Babb made eight saves, but wasn’t seriously threatened for the majority of the afternoon. Horton also lauded the senior center back duo of Ngawang Deter and Matt Sicard for their efforts.
Now Frontier will try and win a sectional title, as it will play No. 5 Mount Greylock on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in a game to be played at Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham. The Mounties edged Frontier, 2-1, when the teams met during the regular season.
Lenox 6, Smith Vocational 0 – Four Millionaires scored to end the Vikings run Saturday. They will qualify for the Division 5 state tournament with a record better than .500.
JC Clerveaux ran wild for the Williston football team Saturday against Suffield, rushing for 229 yards and a pair of scores as the Wildcats earned a 35-14 victory, their sixth win of the season.
Jack Morrison and Drew Renzella ran in scores while James Elliott hauled in a touchdown pass from Renzella. Nolan Puglisi tallied four catches for 45 yards for Williston.
Felix Marois picked off a pass and had a tackle for loss while Noah Fox, Jahan Ramji and Felix-Antoine Bouchard also played well in the secondary. Loic Thibault had a strong game up front for the Wildcat defense.
The Williston boys cross country team took second at the Shaler Invitational over the weekend, with Will Chalfant running a PR to take seventh. Brody Richardson took eighth and Carter Cleary finished in ninth for the Wildcats.
On Saturday, the Williston volleyball team beat Suffield, 3-0, behind strong performances from Izzy Ireland, Nina Coffee and Daliah Elvin.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.