Potoski Leads Spartans in Tourney-Opening Win
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – The Monument Mountain boys soccer team’s state tournament started like its season ended: with a lot of late offense and a lot of Milo Potoski.
Potoski registered a natural hat trick, and the Spartans scored five times in the second half to earn a 5-0 win over Monomoy in the first round of the Division 4 State Tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
Banyan Bourla had a goal and an assist, and Mason Whiteman set up a pair of goals as 11th-seeded Monument Mountain (7-6-6) advanced to play No. 3 Westport in the Round of 16 on Saturday morning.
The Spartans, who scored just once in a five-game stretch into mid-October, have 16 goals in their last four games, when they are 3-1, including Wednesday’s win.
“I think we’ve just been playing as a team,” Potoski said of the team’s recent success in finishing its scoring chances. “My teammates have been able to play me through, going up to striker. It’s just made a big difference.
“It’s worked out well.”
The Spartans’ coach said Potoski has been a big part of the equation.
“The beginning stretch of the season, our first 15 games, I think he scored four goals,” Matt Naventi said. “Since then, he’s lighting it up. He’s scoring two or three every game. If we have offensive production like that, and we can get bits and pieces around him, we’re going to be tough to match up against.”
Another factor in Monument’s late-season power surge: keeping all the Spartans on the field.
“The key’s really been just getting guys healthy,” Naventi said. “We’ve had one thing after another between illness and injury – going into some of the games that were competitive the first time around in our league and, the next time, four of our starters are out.
“So just getting everyone healthy and taking advantage of the layoff that we had to rest and recuperate and be ready to go for today.”
Monument Mountain had eight days off between its regular season finale in the consolation round of the Western Massachusetts Class B tournament and Wednesday’s game.
It may have been a little rusty on its finishes in the first 40 minutes.
The Spartans carried the play for the first 20 minutes of the game against the Sharks and, after Monomoy put some pressure on Monument Mountain’s defense, the hosts controlled the last five minutes of the half, culminating in a Luke Guerrero shot on goal off a run up the left wing inside the two-minute mark.
But Monomoy keeper Tyler Layton (seven saves) and his defense kept the game scoreless going into half-time.
Coming out of the break, Monument Mountain wasted no time changing that.
First, Bourla took a pass from Potoski and made a run up the right wing before slotting the ball into the net in the 45th minute to make it 1-0.
Less than five minutes later, Guerrero got the finish, converting an assist from Bourla in the middle of the 18 to double the Spartan lead.
Potoski then scored unassisted in the 53rd minute as Monument Mountain hung three goals on the board in a span of about eight minutes.
“We didn’t make any adjustments with personnel or anything,” Naventi said of his half-time talk. “We made adjustments to, tactically, what our game plan was. We started well, and our goal was to have our two outside forwards play as high as possible when we were in possession of the ball. And they just kept tucking back and back and back, and it allowed [the Sharks] to get their fullbacks further up the field and play more offense.
“And so, as soon as we, in the second half, responded and immediately got them, positionally, where we needed them to be, the game opened up for us.”
Potoski nearly got his second goal in the 62nd minute with a shot from about six yards out that banged off the post.
But he was on target three minutes later and scored one more for good measure in the 66th minute – both on assists from Whiteman.
The Spartans Saturday will have a chance to get back to the state quarter-finals, which they reached each of the last two seasons.