Div. 3 girls soccer: Belchertown scores early but can’t hold off Wilmington in 3-1 Round of 32 defeat (PHOTOS)

BELCHERTOWN — The No. 14 Belchertown girls soccer team didn’t even need two minutes before it hopped in front of No. 19 Wilmington in the MIAA Division 3 Round of 32 on Monday night. 

Senior Madysen LePage delivered a corner kick into the box, and after a failed clearance from a Wildcats defender, the ball found Fallon Clancy with an open window to fire. Clancy sent the ball into the back of the net just 1 minute, 40 seconds into the game to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead and all the momentum.

That, however, was all Belchertown would manage on the scoreboard. Wilmington held off a relentless Orioles attack and tallied the next three goals to earn a 3-1 win on the road and advance to play at No. 3 Hanover – the defending Div. 3 state champions – in the Round of 16 on Thursday at 6 p.m.

“When we went up early, I think we kind of got a little complacent, and that’s when they came right back at us with the corner,” Belchertown head coach Kyle Thibeault said. “From there I thought we dominated most of the first half, we just couldn’t bury one in the back of the net.”

Wilmington answered the Clancy finish shortly after, as the Wildcats scored on a corner kick of their own off the head of Julia Archer. The Orioles dominated possession the rest of the first half, but they struggled to put any quality shots on goal. That was the story all night. The midfielders, led by LePage, worked the ball up to the front line consistently, the Wilmington defense just walled up and made it difficult for Belchertown by limiting any clean looks at the net.

The best chance came midway through the first when LePage stepped to the stripe for a penalty kick after a foul in the box. LePage went bottom left, a solid shot, but Wildcats goalie Ashley Mercier guessed correctly and shut it down.

“We had some good looks, I just think some of our decision making with some of the shots we had and how early we tried to play the ball was a bit off tonight,” Thibeault said. “It was just putting it all together, that last piece of the puzzle. We got up to an area where we are able to shoot the ball, and we either mishit it or hit lofts up to the goalkeeper. We just didn’t have that piece to the game tonight.”

Early on in the second half, Wilmington’s Molly MacDonald took advantage of a cluster in the box and caught Belchertown keeper Michaela Dubey out of position. MacDonald scored with 31 minutes and 33 seconds remaining in the game to give the Wildcats their first lead of the night – one they would not squander.

The Orioles had no choice but to put more players in the attacking half to try and get that goal back. That left them with no support for Wilmington’s Jillian Collins, the fastest player on the field. Collins broke out after the Wildcats cleared away a Belchertown scoring threat, and she was off to the races with only keeper Jillian DeBarge, who came in for an injured Dubey, to beat. She buried the dagger with under five minutes left to make it 3-1.

“It was one breakdown in the second half, then from there it was a battle to try and get back,” Thibeault said. “We needed to get a goal so we pressed up, which we knew made us more vulnerable. Their girl up top is fast, and she put in another one on us. You lose 2-1 or 3-1, there isn’t a difference when you need to put one in.”

Belchertown (8-7-4) wrapped up its season after yet another respectable showing in the both the Western Mass. and state tournaments. The Orioles lost to South Hadley (the No. 1 seed in Division 4) 4-3 in overtime in the sectional semifinals before earning a bye in the first round of the state tournament. The team now says goodbye to nine seniors, 10 including the team manager. As sophomores, this senior class won a Western Mass. championship, and the group made the state tournament every year as varsity soccer players.

Thibeault was quick to show appreciation for how much they meant to the Belchertown program.

“A big senior class that has been involved in our program, and they’ve really helped us get to where we’ve gotten from a soccer aspect,” Thibeault said. “They’ve been through a Western Mass. championship, they’ve made it to the semifinals of states one year, made it to states all four years, and they’ve played at a high level. It’s not the most fair sport as far as results, but they’re great kids and they put it on the line every game. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way tonight.”