AMHERST — One of the Amherst boys soccer team’s defining qualities this season has been its ability to hang with tough competition. Despite a 6-6-4 record, the No. 14 Hurricanes earned a first round home playoff game against No. 19 Newburyport on Monday.
Down 2-1 coming out of halftime, the Hurricanes knew as long as they kept their composure, they’d find the opportunities to make a comeback.
Amherst got two goals within a minute of each other as senior captain Eliam De Los Reyes put a shot between the legs of Clippers goalkeeper Tyler Lisauskas for what turned out to be the game-winner.
“A lot of times, when we go down, we get nervous and start to make mistakes,” De Los Reyes said. “This could have been our last game, so we knew we had to leave it all out there today.”
De Los Reyes scored two goals as Amherst took down Newburyport 3-2 to advance to the Round of 16. It is the first playoff win for the Hurricanes under head coach Jordan McCarthy.
“It was really good to see that they can refocus in a big pressure moment like this,” McCarthy said. “None of my guys have been to states before, so it was new thing for them and to see how they responded both with success and with adversity was excellent.”
The Hurricanes entered the night on a three-game losing streak that included a first-round loss in the Western Mass. tournament to West Springfield.
Newburyport looked the part of a team with a 15-0-3 record early on as the Clippers scored the first goal five minutes into the game on an indirect kick that the defense failed to clear out of the box.
The deficit acted as a partial wake-up for the Hurricanes. Two minutes later, junior Sammy Nunez Savaria put a shot on net that was deflected by Lisauskas. Unable to secure the ball, De Los Reyes attacked the loose ball and scored on the open net to tie the game.
Another set play later in the first half led to a Newburyport goal. A corner kick to the front of the goal allowed Josh Benicio to get a foot on the ball and return the lead, 2-1, back to the Clippers.
“Miscommunications on my part mostly,” said Amherst senior goalkeeper Toby Kaplan. “People unmarked from the midfield I let through. I wasn’t paying attention, but my friends brought me back. We staying in. Nothing in the second half.”
A much sharper Amherst team came out in the second half.
With about 26 minutes on the clock, Nunez Saravia tossed a throw-in that made it into the middle of the box. Ra-Star Ferreira found himself in the right spot to head the ball into the back of the net to tie the game at two goals apiece.
Starting to build some momentum, the ball found De Los Reyes up the left sideline around midfield. The captain had a step on his defender inside the box as he reared his leg back to shoot. To prevent the shot, the Newburyport defender tried to slide tackle De Los Reyes, but instead of going down, he got the shot off and under Lisauskas for the goal and the lead.
“He was injured for a little bit of the season and to have him come back and be that big of our win is huge for him and for us,” McCarthy said.
De Los Reyes handed off the heroics to Kaplan for the final minutes of the game. The Clippers tried to go back on the offensive with multiple shots on goal, but the keeper was always in the right spot. He made eight saves on the night.
“I’m really grateful, he’s been amazing this season,” De Los Reyes said. “He’s really brought it to us this year and really helped us out.”
Possibly his best save came on a direct kick just outside of the box. With a liner accelerating to the net, Kaplan took flight and dove to his right to make the save with under five minutes left in the game.
“I could see it coming in,” Kaplan said. “I knew I could not drop it or let it through. I had to pad it and then cover it with the rest of myself. There was no chance I could let that out with us staying in the game. I knew it was a must save.”
The win sets up the Hurricanes to play the winner of No. 3 Northampton and No. 30 Chelsea. A win by the Blue Devils would set up the third meeting between the two squads.
Northampton won the first meeting 4-0. Amherst played stronger in the second matchup, forcing a 1-1 tie.
“If we stick to what we did in the second half today, I know we can replicate and even do better than the last time we tied them,” Kaplan said.
Div. 4
South Hadley 4, Mt. Greylock 1 — The Tigers took down the Mounties in the Round of 32.
South Hadley, the 15th seed, moves on to face No. 2 West Bridgewater on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Div. 5
Hopedale 8, Hopkins 0 — The Golden Hawks were outmatched by the No. 1 seed in their Round of 32 defeat.
Hopkins finished out the season 8-8-5.
Hull 4, Gateway 0 — The Gators’ season came to a close at the hands of the seventh-seeded hosts.
Gateway finished with a 9-3-4 overall record.
Girls soccer
Div. 4
South Hadley 7, Bay Path 0 — Hannah Haesaert and Regan Masse each potted two goals for the Tigers in their comfortable win in the Round of 32.
Violet Carillon, Natalie Rios and Grace Sherman also sent in strikes while Olivia Athas earned the shutout with six saves.
South Hadley will host No. 9 Hamilton-Wenham next in the Round of 16 on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Div. 5
Granby 9, Hoosac 0 — Four different Rams recorded multiple points in their huge Round of 32 win.
Margo Healy had four points on a hat trick and an assist, Sophia Wright scored twice and added an assist while McKenna Cudworth contributed one goal and two assists.
Top-seeded Granby will host No. 16 Saint Paul II next on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Smith Voc 2, Trivium 1 — Julianis Suarez sent the Vikings into the Round of 16 after notching the double overtime game-winner on Monday.
Savannah Fredette, who scored Smith Voc’s first goal, assisted on Suarez’s golden goal, which occurred during the 91st minute of play.
The No. 9 Vikings will play the winner of No. 8 Whittinsville Christian and No. 25 West Boylston later this week.
Hopedale 10, Gateway 0 — The Gators were no match for the second-seeded Blue Raiders.
Gateway closed out the season 7-4-3.
