Class D girls soccer: Top-seeded Palmer tops Granby 3-1 for Western Mass. title (PHOTOS)

SPRINGFIELD – Top-seeded Palmer needed just two and a half minutes to get on the board in the Western Mass. Class D final, and from there the Panthers snatched control.

Charlotte Theriault scored in the game’s third minute, the first of two goals for the sophomore, and the Panthers bested Granby, 3-1, on Tuesday night at Berte Field.

Granby keeper Meredith Bartosz made eight saves in net for the Rams and freshman Brenna Moreno scored the Rams’ lone goal of the game, an absolute rocket of a shot from the 20 yard line with 2:29 left to pull within 3-1.

Moreno’s goal gave Granby some much needed momentum but it was too little, too late for the Rams.

“We definitely came out flat-footed, there wasn’t much energy,” Granby senior Sophia Gagnon said. “We definitely got energy toward the end of the game, but it was just too late…hate to say it, but we didn’t really generate much chances to score. Brenna Moreno had an amazing shot… but sadly it was just way too late in the game. It just wasn’t enough for us to get going.”

The two teams split during the regular season; Palmer picked up a 7-3 win in their first meeting before Granby pulled off a 5-1 drubbing at home.

This was Granby’s first trip back to the Western Mass. final since 2019, before the tournament changed formats in 2021. They’ve made the tourney every year since the format changed, but got knocked out in the semis in 2021 and 2022. Though the result wasn’t what they wanted, the players and coaching staff were glad to be back on the big stage.

“It feels great. I told the girls yesterday at practice there’s no better feeling than playing in this game in this atmosphere at this time of year,” Granby head coach Bob Weaver said. “It’s absolutely phenomenal.”

Theriault picked up a goal off a perfectly placed pass from Addyson Petrashewicz to open the game. Theriault collected the pass in stride and fired a low shot towards the right corner, beating Bartosz and making it 1-0.

After a back and forth first half, Palmer doubled its lead with five minutes left in the first half on a corner kick attempt. Palmer fired the corner kick that found Theriault in front of the net, who fired a shot that went off the crossbar and into the net.

Up 2-0 after halftime, Palmer’s Fallon Lynch found herself directly in front of the goal with the ball and was able to tap it in in the 43rd minute to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Granby struggled to take control of the game and had difficulty connecting plays in order to build up momentum until Moreno’s goal.

“It took us a while (to get going). We weren’t connecting passes. We just were really out of sync,” Weaver said.

Palmer’s back line speed kept Granby’s offense from getting too many chances, though the Rams had some impressive grade-A looks in the second half that Palmer keeper Aubrey Boucher kept out of the net.

Despite the loss, the Rams still have the state tournament to look forward to. The Rams were ranked 20th in the last MIAA Division 5 power rankings, and will likely suit up for their first state tournament game later this week.

“I think we just need to really focus more on the little things like passing and getting our energy up and just overall just getting more into the soccer mindset,” Gagnon said. “I’m very happy that we were able to get to this point. Toward the beginning it did not look like we were gonna be able to make it to this point, but throughout the season, we slowly progressed. I’m happy that we were able to make it here.”

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.