Pittsfield Boys Top Wahconah in Rematch

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Luke Peplowski scored a pair of goals and the Pittsfield boys soccer team overcame an early deficit to earn a 5-1 win over Wahconah at Kirvin Park on Tuesday.
 
The Generals won their second straight and flipped the script after suffering a 3-1 setback in Dalton in their third game of the season.
 
“We’re completely different now,” Pittsfield coach Andrew Antil said. “Like I said at the beginning of the year, we had a lot of guys stepping up on varsity for the first time. And they’ve come so far. They’ve come a long way.
 
“We were composed today, and we were just strong today. We put up a fight where we didn’t put up a fight last time.”
 
Antil added that Pittsfield (5-5-2) took Wahconah (8-4) more seriously in the rematch.
 
“We thought we were going to breeze through them the first time around, and we were corrected,” Antil said with a chuckle. “We know what we did wrong the first time around, and we were able to fix it.
 
“We played smart, and we were patient. They put the first goal in on us, but we knew we had a little bit more in us.”
 
Brody Calvert scored that first goal off a corner kick, converting a feed from Nick Astore in the middle of the 18 to give Wahconah a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute of the game.
 
It maintained that advantage until the 29th minute, when Omar Miranda sent a cross into the box from the right wing for Peplowski, who finished to tie the match, 1-1.
 
That is where it stood on half-time, thanks largely to Wahconah keeper Ernie Lampron, who made seven of his 15 saves before half-time.
 
Justice Daniels broke through for a goal in the 46th minute when he converted a pass from Cole Masiero.
 
The game-winner was the first career goal for Daniels, who started the season on the junior varsity.
 
“He’s been great,” Antil said of Daniels. “He’s been a work in progress. He’s big, and he’s strong, and that’s the type of player we needed tonight. His effort shows why.
 
“He just needed to get into the dirty areas and not be afraid. A lot of us rely on the finesse game, maybe a little too much. And he’s a guy who we don’t have the problem with. He’s not afraid to get physical -- to bring up the level of pace and the level of physicality.”
 
Peplowski scored his second goal of the match midway through the second half after taking a cross from David Kankam at the top of the 18.
 
It stayed a 3-1 game until the closing moments. Matt Miller and Masiero each scored a goal in the final five minutes to put the contest out of reach.
 
Mark Amendalah stopped a pair of shots to earn the win in goal for Pittsfield, which goes to Lenox on Friday.
 
Wahconah is at Drury on Wednesday.
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