McCann Tech's Second-Half Comeback Falls Short
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The Hampden Charter boys soccer team Tuesday scored four goals in a 22-minute span to take a three-goal lead and went on to a 6-4 win over McCann Tech on Tuesday in the first round of the Division 5 State Tournament.
Kareem Awkal and Dylan Afranie each scored a pair of goals as the 22nd-seeded Wolves advanced to the Round of 16.
Rocco Cellana had two goals and an assist, and Ben Harris made 10 saves for the No. 11 Hornets, who fell behind, 4-1, at half-time and could not dig out of the hole despite a strong second-half effort.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t come out in the first half and battle like we usually do,” McCann Tech coach Stephen McAllister said. “I told the boys at half-time that I had faith in them to come out, and they could score four goals if they needed to. And they started out pretty strong.
“I wish we played the first half the same way we played the second. But it is what it is. All in all, I’m glad they came back and put some more goals on the board and put pressure on them.”
The Hornets got the game’s first goal when Rocco Cellana took a pass from Ashton Solomon on the left side inside the penalty area and finished in the eighth minute of play.
The early goal was a sign of what was to come as the teams split 10 goals, the second time that’s happened in a McCann Tech game.
Four minutes after Cellana’s goal, Hampden Charter got the equalizer when Jeronimo Monsalve scored with an assist from a throw-in on the right wing.
In the 25th minute, Afranie scored his first goal out of a crowd in the 18 to make it 2-1. Moments later, Hampden charter earned a penalty kick, and Awkal converted to give his team a two-goal lead.
In the 33rd minute of the game, Afranie scored an olimpico goal on a corner try from the right wing to make it 4-1 going into half-time.
The Hornets came out firing to start the second half, getting strong chances from Zach Howland, Solomon and Terren Dyer in the first eight minutes of the period.
Howland finally got the finish in the 54th minute of play when he headed in a throw-in from Cellana to make it 4-2.
Four minutes later, Hampden Charter was whistled for a handball in its penalty area, and Cellana converted a penalty kick to get the Hornets within a goal with 22 minutes, 25 seconds left to play.
The Wolves regrouped and got goals from Awkal and Mehmet Yesilbas in a 10-minute span to re-establish their three-goal margin with just fewer than five minutes to play.
At that point, McAllister pulled most of his starters, and the reserves gave the home fans something to cheer about when Dyer set up Brendan Vigna for a goal to provide the final margin.
Although the Hornets (9-5-4) saw their campaign come an end after a busy post-season, their success in that post-season – winning a quarter-final game in the Western Mass tournament, reaching the finals of the State Voc tournament and earning a home game in the state tournament – says a lot about the team’s ability and its potential.
“I feel great about the year,” McAllister said. “We’ve only got four seniors, and we actually lost one halfway through the season who was one of our better players. We battled without him.
“I’m happy with the way these guys played. They all stuck together.”