DALTON, Mass. -- Everywhere Brody Calvert went on Wednesday evening, he drew a crowd.
And when he made a run up the right wing in the closing minutes, the Wahconah forward took two defenders with him.
They just could not stop him from sending a cross into the 6-yard box, where the ball was deflected by a third defender to Ryan Marauszwski, who finished into an open net with 1 minute, 18 seconds remaining to break a 3-3 tie and send Wahconah past Nantucket and into Saturday’s Division 4 State Tournament quarter-finals.
Calvert scored a goal, Marauszwski had an assist and Luciano Canino scored a pair as eighth-seeded Wahconah earned the right to face No. 1 Hampshire Regional for a spot in the Final Four.
“I just played it out to Brody wide, and he did most of the work, “ Marauszwski said. “Put it in the corner, put in a good cross, the goalie kind of fumbled it, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time to put it in.
“I can’t really be thinking during the moment. Just play where the ball is on the ground. … During practice, I’m always running front post, and obviously it paid off with our crossing drills. I just put it in.”
Wahconah (10-3-6) took control of the game early when Canino headed home across from Marauszwski at the end of the game’s first corner kick to give their team a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute of play.
Calvert doubled that lead 18 minutes later, but Nantucket immediately responded, getting a goal on a rebound off keeper Zach Flaherty (12 saves) to cut the deficit in half in the 29th minute.
In the closing moments of the half, the Whalers took a free kick from midfield that appeared to glance off a Wahconah defender and into the goal to level the score.
Nantucket scored its third goal in a span of 16 minutes when Yeison Gregorio converted an assist from David Lemus-Castro in the 44th minute to make it 3-2.
“We’ve been down in so many games,” Marauszwski said. “We just have to think of it one goal at a time. And if you put one in, you’ve got to get another and another. You can’t put your head down. You just have to keep fighting, keep at it.”
Wednesday’s win was Wahconah’s second comeback in its two state tournament games and the second time the game-winner came in the closing minutes.
“Our motto the past couple of games is basically, ‘Let’s make it interesting,’ “ coach Kevin Boino said. “As a coach, it’s hard. It’s tough. It’s tough on the blood pressure, but, a win’s a win. I’m proud of our guys. They fought back every inch of the way.
“This was a good game by both teams, a classic 8-9 matchup. This was great.”
Wahconah immediately answered with pressure on Nantucket’s back line, but keeper Max Beebe (seven saves) and the Whalers’ “D” stood up to the challenge, maintaining the lead through a two-minute barrage.
But 10 minutes after falling behind, Wahconah got the equalizer.
Sean Kays started the play with a throw-in from the left side. Nantucket played the ball out of the 18, but it went right back to Kays, who served it to Canino. Canino took a touch and beat a charging Beebe to the ball about 10 yards from the goal to score his second of the game.
“I kind of mixed guys around a little bit trying to get some new energy out there,” Wahconah coach Kevin Boino said. “We were running a little slow there. That’s where we got down, 3-2. Guys off the bench stepped up. They brought energy on the field.
“We had some guys step real big tonight and put some goals in the net.”
Video:
Wahconah’s Sean Kays sets up Luciano Canino, who ties Wednesday’s state tournament game at 3-3. Wahconah went on to a 4-3 win.
Video: Wahconah’s Brody Calvert scores to give his team a 2-0 lead in Wednesday’s state tournament win.
Video: Wahconah’s Luciano Canino scores the first goal of Wednesday’s state tournament win over Nantucket.
Video: Wahconah’s Ryan Marauszwski scores the game-winner in the 79th minute to beat Nantucket, 4-3, and reach the D4 quarterfinals.
