WILBRAHAM – Jack Mandeville backstopped the Belchertown boys soccer team to a 1-0 win over Watertown on Monday during the first round of the MIAA Div. 3 state tournament at Minnechaug Regional High School.

The No. 16 Orioles scored less than three minutes into regulation on a strike from Esat Cayan, which proved to be the difference as Belchertown hung on to claim the Round of 32 victory.

Belchertown (5-6-8) advanced to the Round of 16 where it'll play the winner of Tuesday’s game between No. 1 Pope Francis and No. 32 Nauset Regional.

“We got one early, which we've been trying to do all season," Orioles head coach Zach Siano said. “I wish we could've punched a couple more in there, but the guys, at the end of the day, just survived and advanced.”

Mandeville was spectacular for Belchertown as the senior goalkeeper entered the matchup as the Orioles' all-time saves leader (263), and added to it with a couple of grade-A stops in each half.

“I was just reading the game and trying to do my job,” Mandeville said. “The whole game, the guys in front of me were doing so well.”

Siano wasn’t surprised his goalkeeper put together another outstanding performance.

“That's who [Mandeville] is for us back there, he's our anchor,” Siano said. “He set our school's all-time record in saves today. He's Super Seven, he's the top vote-getter for our class and he's our captain for a reason. He's the reason why he's certainly the premier goalie in western Mass., if not the state.”

Cayan netted the game's only goal early on following Belchertown's first corner of the night. A couple of failed clears from Watertown resulted in the ball finding Cayan, who executed a spin-a-rama from just outside the box to quickly give the Orioles momentum.

“We kind of have spread around our goals a bit this year,” Siano said. “With that said, we don't have that many goals to speak of, but this is how this team wins games. They get ahead, they grind out games and for [Cayan] to put us on the board [during the] first couple minutes of the game, allowed us to settle in and play our game from there.”

The Raiders pushed for the remainder of the first half, but Mandeville stood tall at each Watertown chance.

The second half started similarly to the first as Belchertown began with the field tipped in its favor, however the Raiders slowly evened the playing field with numerous chances.

Watertown's best chance to knot the score came with less than five minutes to go on a free kick from the 20, but the ball sailed just over the crossbar and out of reach from Mandeville's extended arms.

Mandeville finished the contest with five saves to push his career total to 268.

“It means a lot to me,” Mandeville said of the school record. “It's a cool thing, I'm happy.”