Taconic Boys Hand McCann Tech Its First Loss

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Taconic boys soccer team Monday scored three goals in the first seven minutes of the second half and held on for a 3-2 win over McCann Tech.

 

Seffatulla Mangal had a goal and an assist, and William Barber stopped eight shots to earn the win in goal for the Thunder, which led, 3-0 after Justin Ventura Lozano scored in the 47th minute.

 

After giving up two goals in the second half to allow rival Pittsfield to earn a 2-1, comeback win just two days earlier, that three-goal lead did not feel too comfortable for Taconic coach Jason Keller.

 

“That’s why I called a timeout at the end,” Keller said of the break he asked for in the 75th minute of a one-goal game. “I was trying to calm them down, but mostly to calm myself down.

 

“I was sweating it because I just saw it in my head. As soon as it was 3-0, I think the worst always, ‘3-3 is going to be the final score.’ So I was just proud that they at least held it to two [goals].”

 

Neither team could generate a lot of quality chances in the first half.

 

McCann Tech had a few tries that went wide of frame and one strong shot from about 20 yards by Max Plekhanov that forced Barber to make a diving save late in the half.

 

Taconic’s best try came in the middle stages when Samuel Latorre fired a shot inside the 18 that forced Hornets keeper Ben Harris (nine saves) to make a diving kick stop, and Latorre’s try on the rebound had Harris scrambling across the goal mouth to prevent the score.

 

The Thunder finally broke through in the first few minutes of the second half when Latorre set up Mangal for a shot from 25 yards out on the right wing that Mangal buried in the back of the net.

 

Taconic then doubled its lead about a minute later with a score by Santiago Cepeda that went in off Harris’ hands.

 

Finally, Taconic’s goal-scoring flurry ended when Mangal’s free kick from the right wing was redirected by Justin Ventura into the net to make it 3-0.

 

After seeing a scoreless game transformed in a few moments, McCann Tech called its timeout in the 51st minute.

 

And the Hornets responded, controlling play much of the rest of the way.

 

McCann Tech actually outshot its hosts, 7-6, in the second half.

 

And two of those shots found the back of the net.

 

First, Plekhanov sent a cross from the left wing into the 18 for Ashton Solomon, who finished to get his team on the board midway through the half.

 

Then, in the 72nd minute, Hayden Bona scored with an assist from Solomon to get McCann Tech within a goal.

 

But that was as close as they came as the Thunder held on to hand the Hornets (8-1-2) their first loss of the season.

 

“It does feel good,” Keller said. “It’s good to finally knock them out. Plus, they’ve usually played us well over the years, always hard games. I feel like we always lose by a goal to them, so it was good to reverse it.”

 

Taconic (6-6-2) hosts Wahconah on Thursday at Berkshire Community College.

 

McCann Tech will look to get back in the win column on Thursday when it hosts Mount Everett.

 

Photos from this game to come.