HATFIELD — For the fifth time in the last six regular season meetings and the second time this season, the Granby and Smith Academy boys soccer teams played to a draw on Tuesday afternoon.
Two first-half goals, one from each team, led to a 1-1 final score – the same scoreline as on Saturday during their first matchup of the season.
The Rams and Falcons met in the Western Massachusetts Class E championship game a season ago, and have built a healthy rivalry over the past several seasons. Each game is always close, and never lacks physicality or aggression. Both head coaches, Todd Dorman (Granby) and Jason Duncan (Smith Academy), had nothing but respect for each other’s programs – and neither expect this to be the last meeting of the season, either.
“Todd runs a very consistent program,” Duncan said. “Looking at what he lost, and what we lost, I was thinking we would both be middle of the pack this year – and I’m not seeing that so much. I would not be surprised to play these guys a third time this year, and I’ve already told Todd that. I don’t know where or when it will be, but I would not be shocked at all.”
Dorman readies his team for a rock fight each time these two programs collide, and he always prepares for a close battle.
“The teams are obviously very evenly matched,” Dorman said. “Out of our past six or seven matches, Smith has won one and everything else has been a tie. Everything is always a one-goal game with them, and we expect that.”
Quickly into Tuesday’s game, the Rams were on the board and controlling the pace of the game. It took Granby less than five minutes to find the back of the net. Off a long Ben Berger throw-in from the sideline, Tristan Moe got a foot on the ball after a failed Falcons clearance attempt and directed it toward Gavin Moreno. The sophomore took a shot without hesitation and buried it into the bottom right corner of the net to give the Rams an early 1-0 lead.
Granby took full advantage of the wide field at Smith Academy, something the Rams don’t have the luxury of on their home pitch. The game felt much more free and easy with more space to operate.
“What helps out playing here is that the field is wider, which allows us more space,” Dorman said. “The things that we’re doing in practice really open up here, and we can see those give-and-go’s and control the pace.”
A rapid response from Falcons junior Cameron Graves soon followed the Granby goal. As fast as Smith Academy fell behind, it got right back in it thanks to Graves’ equalizer. Senior Ben Hudzik took a free kick and sent a line drive into the box where Graves was able to barely get a touch on it and redirect it past goalie Daniel Santiago.
This sent the game to halftime tied up at one.
“Giving up that early goal was obviously not the plan,” Duncan said. “But just a couple minutes later we found one on the other end, so it was a fresh game from there. Knotted up at half, and now it’s a 40-minute game.”
Throughout the majority of the contest, especially in the second half, the Rams controlled possession and kept the pressure on Smith Academy. The midfield, led by Jake Gagnon, Jaxton Roy, Nico Grandmont, and Colin Murdock, provided a smooth connection between the back line and forwards. Dorman was pleased with how his team played overall, but knows they missed a few key chances to take the lead.
“We controlled pace of play and really kept them on their heels,” Dorman said. “I think we dominated possession and kept them in their half for most of the match. When they did get some chances, our defense was able to take care of it. We just didn’t capitalize on scoring opportunities.”
Those opportunities were shut down by the Falcons for the most part, partly because Granby had trouble with some finishing touches, and partly because Smith Academy was quick to jump at the ball in the final third of the field.
“We had a couple too many extra touches, weren’t getting shots off, and Smith Academy does a good job of swarming the ball,” Dorman said. “If we’re not making quicker decisions, we’re not gonna have that chance.”
A big reason behind the Rams’ second-half surge was that Graves – Smith Academy’s main facilitator – exited the game early in the frame due to injury. The Falcons had to scramble and move pieces around, and did a great job of doing so to keep them in the game.
“It was pretty balanced until Cameron went out,” Duncan said. “But man, guys stepped up, played out of position, filled his shoes as best they could, and did what they needed to do to defend. We lose one of our top players for the last 20 minutes of the game, so I will certainly take the result under those circumstances.”
Smith Academy (3-0-4) hosts a streaking Greenfield team on Thursday at 4 p.m. looking to remain undefeated so far this season.
Granby (4-1-3) returns home to face Gateway, also at 4 p.m. on Thursday.
