SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Nantucket boys soccer team had all the momentum going into overtime against Frontier in the MIAA Division 4 Round of 32 Tuesday. 

After the 14th-seeded Redhawks took the lead five minutes into the game, Frontier had to withstand an onslaught of pressure from the 19th-seeded Whalers for the final 75 minutes of regulation. With four minutes to play in regulation, Nantucket finally broke through to tie the game and force overtime. 

Neither squad was able to score in the opening 10-minute overtime period, but with 7 minutes, 25 seconds to play in the second overtime, the Redhawks struck. 

Max Millette took a throw-in deep on the left side of the Nantucket end and heaved the ball into the box. The ball bounced over the foot of a Whaler defender and landed right on the feet of Will Reading. The senior took a dribble and drilled it into the bottom right corner of the goal to send Frontier to the Round of 16 with a 2-1 victory. 

“I’d say there was a lot of surprise,” Reading said. “It slid past the defending line. It caught me off guard a little bit. After that it was just instinct.”

The Redhawks will face No. 3 Pittsfield on the road in the Round of 16 on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Berkshire Community College.

Knowing their season was over with a loss inspired Reading and Frontier (13-2-4) to keep competing, even when Nantucket seemed to have the momentum. 

“I think a lot of it has to do with this is our field and our last game,” Reading said. “We were knocked out early in Western Mass. As  a  senior , this would have been my last game. A lot of it was passion just to keep playing.”

Overtime games had not been kind to the Redhawks in the past. Frontier fell in overtime, 2-1, to Hampshire in the Western Mass. Class B finals last year, suffered a 2-1 overtime defeat to South Hadley in the Div. 4 state semifinals in 2022. Those losses made the overtime victory all the more special. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been on the winning side of a 2-1 overtime game,” Redhawks coach Evan Horton said. “Those 2-1 games are the bane of my existence. I can’t even count the number of 2-1 overtime games I’ve lost in my career. I’m not going to lie, especially with the run of play the last 10 minutes, part of me thought ‘let’s just get this to PKs and take our chances.’ I still didn’t want to go to PKs because I saw [Nantucket] do a PK shootout on tape and they were hitting bangers with ease. Their keeper is good so I am happy we didn’t have to go to PKs with them.” 

It was a rocket of a shot from Eric Larsson that gave Frontier the lead five minutes into the contest. Off a throw-in, Redhawk Gus Radner tapped a pass over the middle to Larsson, who was standing well outside the 18-yard box. Larsson got a good touch, flicked the ball up in the air to himself and whistled a shot that smashed off the post and deflected in to give Frontier a 1-0 lead. 

After struggling to gain early leads of late, it was a welcomed change for Horton to play with an early advantage. 

“That’s the first time we’ve been up 1-0 at halftime in five or six games,” Horton said. “We’ve struggled to score, especially in the first half. When we get up, we play a lot better. I thought the first 10 or 15 minutes we were the better team.”

Once Nantucket (10-4-5) settled into the game, the scoring chances starting coming more frequently. The Whalers nearly tied the game late in the first half but a shot sailed just over the crossbar. 

The chances kept coming in the second half, particularly in the final 20 minutes where Nantucket was throwing everything it had at getting a goal. It helped when Whaler Elvis Alonzo came back on the field, as he was the catalyst of the Nantucket attack. 

“When [Alonzo] came back on, they got going,” Horton said. “He got the early [yellow] card and I was surprised how long he sat him. He almost got another one as soon right when he came back on. As soon as [Alonzo] came back on the complexion changed. I knew from watching them he was their engine in the middle. Him and [Calvin Guevara] are really good players.”

With four minutes to go, that goal finally came. The ball deflected to Guevara over the middle and from 25 yards out, Guevara cracked a shot that made its way into the left side of the goal to tie the game and force overtime. 

“The goal was a good shot,” Horton said. “I didn’t think we gave them a lot of space. It was a good shot and that happens. I didn’t think we had a major letdown. They were coming at us, you create a few extra yards of space and somebody can put it in a corner.” 

As most teams deal with late in the year, Frontier was forced to throw different players into action due to injuries. Horton noted that Xavier Fripp — who saw time after not playing down the stretch of the season — and Tavo Vincent Warner were players who were forced into action in the midfield and showed well. 

“They came in, stepped up and that’s all we can ask for,” Horton said. “We had a lot of guys do that. We had to ask a lot of stuff from a lot of guys to scratch that one out. That’s not lost on me at all. It’s compelling in thinking about where we’re trying to get to. That’s how you win in these games. It’s not usually about skill, it’s about who crawls their way to the finish line for the most part. To have everybody give some amount of minutes is really important.” 

Div. 5 Round of 32

No. 4 Dearborn STEM Academy 9, No. 29 Smith Academy 0 — Seniors Ian Guzowski, Cameron Graves, Ryan McCoy, Jack Brady, Garrett Willard, Lukas Punska and Jake Wilcox played their final game for the Falcons in a loss to Dearborn on Tuesday. 

Smith Academy closed its season with a 14-5-1 record. 

Girls soccer

Div. 2 Round of 32

No. 23 Northampton 2, No. 10 Marblehead 1 (2OT) – A dramatic season for the Blue Devils added another chapter on Tuesday night.

Willow Claps tallied the game-winning goal off an assist from Teagan McDonald in the final 10 seconds of double overtime, and visiting Northampton marched on in the Div. 2 tournament with a 2-1 win in Marblehead.

The Devils (15-2-3) advanced to the Round of 16 and will play the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 7 Nashoba and No. 26 Sharon.

“Great team win,” Northampton coach Vanessa Butynski said. “We played extremely hard as a unit for 100 minutes. Very proud of all the effort put forth and excited for this group to have the opportunity to continue our run.”

Claps netted both goals for ’Hamp, and goalie Imanni Power Greene made four saves to earn the victory between the pipes.

Div. 4 Round of 32

No. 16 Bellingham 2, No. 17 Hampshire 1 – Bellingham led 1-0 at halftime, and netted an insurance goal with about 15 minutes remaining.

The Raiders pulled within one with a breakaway tally from Libby Puttick just four minutes later to make it 2-1, but the visitors couldn’t find the equalizer. Shayne Moynahan assisted on Puttick’s goal, and netminders Karaghan Rogalski and Ella Cleary combined for 10 saves.

Hampshire finished its season 8-7-3 overall, while Bellingham advanced to play the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 1 Sutton and No. 33 Easthampton in the Round of 16.

No. 2 Hamilton-Wenham 7, No. 34 Frontier 0 — The Redhawks came away victorious in their preliminary round road trip against Carver but were unable to spring an upset against the second-seeded Generals on Tuesday, falling in the Round of 32. 

Frontier closed its campaign with a 14-6 record, one that saw it take home a Pioneer League North championship. 

Div. 5 Round of 32

No. 8 Hopedale 2, No. 25 Hopkins Academy 0 — The Golden Hawks’ historic season comes to a close in the Round of 32 despite a huge day in goal from Emmy Schmidt, where she recorded 16 saves.

Hopkins posted a 17-2-2 record while allowing only six goals all season, including Tuesday’s loss. The Hawks had 18 shutouts in their 21 games played.

Hopedale moves on to the Round of 16 against No. 9 Bromfield.

No. 5 Maynard 1, No. 28 Smith Vocational 0 — The Vikings gave the fifth-seeded Tigers a tough game on Tuesday, but Maynard did not surrender a goal to advance to the Round of 16 with a victory over Smith Vocational. 

The Vikings closed their season with a 16-3 record.