NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton boys soccer team was able to control the majority of possession in its MIAA Division 2 Round of 32 showdown against 20th-seeded Milton on Monday, but two mistakes from the 13th-seeded Blue Devils in the first half did them in. 

Northampton opened the scoring in the 14th minute but a miscommunication in the back end just 22 seconds later allowed the Wildcats to tie the score. 

Milton took the lead off a free kick in the 33rd minute and held onto it until the final whistle, knocking off the Blue Devils with a 2-1 victory at David Wright Stadium. 

“I felt the first 25 minutes and last 40 minutes that it was our game,” Northampton head coach CJ Holt said. “We had the absolute hiccup after we scored a goal where the miscommunication in the back cost us. Then the free kick set piece where we didn’t stay goal side, our positioning was bad and they made us pay on a beautiful serve. We made two mistakes and they scored two goals.”

It wasn’t for a lack of chances. Northampton controlled the tempo and had the Wildcats (7-8-4) retreating for multiple stretches, but Milton was consistently able to block shots before they got to goal, making life difficult for the Blue Devils (12-3-4). 

“We had a lot of chances,” Holt said. “I’m not making excuses. I thought the boys played well. We had no reason to push numbers up because we had everything we wanted playing straight up in our normal shape. We just could not put the ball in the back of the net. I don’t think their keeper had to make more than three saves. We just weren’t getting our shots off. They had long, tall dudes who were closing down the shooting opportunities. It was tough for us to get our shots off.” 

Northampton got on the board thanks to a great pass from Sam Busone. Busone coraled the ball in the middle, turned up field and sent a perfectly-placed through ball to a streaking Jasper Cantor up the left flank. Breaking behind the defense, Cantor took a few dribbles before smashing the ball in to give the Blue Devils the 1-0 lead. 

Disaster ensued shortly thereafter. Milton instantly made a run after the resumption of play, and after knocking the ball toward goal, a miscommunication between the Northampton defense and goalie Salem Gregory led to the ball leaking behind the Devils goalie.

Milton’s Kenny Heraldo raced behind and tapped it into the empty net, tying the game and snatching the momentum back. 

Just before the halftime whistle, Milton took the lead. The Wildcats drew a foul just outside the 18-yard box on the left side of the goal and a perfectly lofted free kick was buried by Ryan O’Donnell, giving Milton a 2-1 edge at the break. 

Northampton kept the pressure up in the second half, but the hosts were unable to find the equalizer. 

“I watched some film of them,” Holt said. “There’s film everywhere now which is an advantage. I knew how they lined up and what they were going to do. They’re a strong team, they play a certain way and they have an identity. They were just trying to frantically clear everything and putting balls over the top of us and we struggled. We misjudged a lot of balls in the air and put ourselves under unnecessary pressure. But, I think we created enough chances to win the game. It’s just one of those days where the ball doesn’t go in the back of the net.” 

Milton advanced to face the winner of Wednesday’s game between Hingham and Nashoba Regional in the Round of 16. 

Div. 5 prelim

No. 25 Atlantis Charter 6, No. 42 Smith Voc 3 – The Vikings found the back of the net three times, but couldn’t lock down Atlantic Charter in a prelim loss played in Fall River on Monday evening.

Smith Vocational finished its season 13-4 overall, while Atlantis Charter advanced to the Round of 32 and a road game at No. 8 Keefe Tech on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Girls soccer

Div. 4 prelim

No. 33 Easthampton 4, No. 32 Sturgis Charter East 0 — The Eagles rolled to a road victory in Hyannis to open their state tournament run on Monday.

Easthampton led 3-0 at halftime thanks to a pair of goals from Raegan Delisle and one from Samone Young.

Delisle capped off her hat trick in the second half, putting things out of reach. Christine Raymond and Gianna Covalli notched assists for the Eagles, and goalie Addie Barr made five saves to pitch a shutout.

Easthampton (13-4-2) advanced to play at top-seeded Sutton in the Round of 32 on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Late weekend results

Boys soccer

Division 5 prelims

No. 22 Salem Academy Charter 4, No. 43 PVCICS 1 — On Sunday, the Dragons traveled to Salem for a preliminary round game and fell 4-1.

PVCICS got a goal from Teddy Scott with assists from Nolan Gage and Rafi Razmi. Keeper Damian Loinaz made five saves for the Dragons.