BELCHERTOWN — The crossbar rang three times from Amherst Regional attempts.
Chances materialized easily for the Hurricanes boys soccer team Monday from connecting passes.
Go figure their first goal in a 2-1 win appeared from nowhere.
Belchertown junior Noah Pare attempted to clear the ball out of the Orioles’ defensive zone as Amherst junior Colton Spirko came sliding in for the tackle.
Pare’s clearance ricocheted off Spirko’s diving foot, and Belchertown goalie Tanner Clark couldn’t keep it out of the top corner.
“I have no idea what happened,” Spirko said. “I went in for the tackle, it just deflected.”
It tied the game at 1 in the 54th minute.
The Hurricanes’ second goal was a no-doubter.
Not even two minutes after the first one, Josiah Wilson tickled the goal netting through late autumn’s hanging mist.
“I just went for placement inside the foot to curve that,” Wilson said. “I didn’t go for much power. I was just trying to get that in.”
Amherst (2-1) kept the pressure on for the rest of the game, narrowly missing on a third goal multiple times. Either Clark made one of his eight saves, or the crossbar helped him out.
“Sometimes it’s a matter of a couple inches in soccer,” Amherst coach Michael Rudd said. “The first half went the wrong way for us, the second half went better.”
Belchertown (3-3) opened the game with a transition attempt that Amherst keeper Liam Carolan snuffed out. He finished with 11 saves.
The one shot he didn’t save slid by in the 11th minute courtesy of Belchertown’s Ben LaClair.
He received a pass, chipped it past his defender’s shoulder, and put the ball in the bottom corner across the face of goal for a 1-0 lead.
“We had a lot of energy, but we were playing for ourselves, not as a team,” LaClair said. “The goal developed nicely, but the rest of the play was kind of sloppy.”
Belchertown mostly attacked on the counter throughout the game. Amherst just allowed the Orioles’ more possession in the first half.
Once the Hurricanes’ goals went in, they didn’t commit as many defenders forward to stymie Belchertown on the break.
The Orioles still attempted to break individually rather than build the attack as a group.
“As soon as they scored we put our head down. It’s like we had already lost or we were down 5-0,” LaClair said. “Realistically it was 1-1.”
Belchertown has alternated wins and losses since it began the season with a victory over Southwick.
The Orioles’ next game is against Northampton on Wednesday at home.
“We pick our heads back up, we go back to practice tomorrow and we work our butts off,” LaClair said. “We put this behind us.”
Amherst, conversely, has found something to build from.
The Hurricanes won their second consecutive game after an injury-riddled loss to start the year.
“We really found our identity on the field,” Rudd said. “We like to attack and attack with possession. The kids love to combine with each other on the field.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.