GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – A little change in the lineup paid big dividends for the Monument Mountain boys soccer team on Thursday night.
Senior Colin Kinne moved to the front line and made the most of it with two goals in a 3-2 Senior Night win over Wahconah.
“I’ve been playing the back all year,” Kinne said. “Second game playing up top. It’s good.”
Kinne made good on his opportunity to get back on the scoresheet by putting the Spartans on top in the fifth minute of the game.
Erving Henderson started the play with a shot from deep on the left wing that Wahconah keeper Zach Flaherty (six saves) was able to stop. But the rebound came to Kinne on the right side, and he buried a shot to give the Spartans a lead they never relinquished in winning their second straight.
Monument Mountain coach Matt Naventi explained that Kinne is no stranger to offense.
“He’s played forward for us the past couple of years, and we just graduated much of our defense from last year,” Naventi said. “So we needed a player or two to fill that role.
“It’s been a chess game as far as positioning over the last few weeks in getting players to where we feel are the right places. And I think, tactically, it will depend on certain games and who we’re matching up with and who plays where. But he put himself in good positions today.”
The Spartans doubled their lead late in the first half when Mac Zdziarski put Christian Blanchard in position to score the second goal of the night.
Zdziarski lofted a ball from about midfield down the right side for Blanchard, who beat a Wahconah defender and carried into the 18 before firing a shot into the far corner of the goal to put Monument Mountain ahead, 2-0, going into half-time.
Wahconah answered quickly after the break.
Brody Calvert drew a foul in the 18 just 41 seconds into the half and converted the penalty kick to cut the deficit to 2-1.
From there, the teams went back and forth in an eventful half that produced a lot of dangerous chances but no more goals until the last six minutes of play.
Wahconah’s best chance to tie the game came in the 73rd minute, when Calvert got behind Monument Mountain keeper Luke Arienti (seven saves) with the ball. But his shot was blocked by an alert Sean Scarbro for a Wahconah corner kick.
About two minutes later, Monument Mountain’s Hudson Manzolini got the ball deep on the left wing and sent a cross into the box, where Kinne finished for his second goal of the game and a 3-1 Spartan lead.
That goal appeared to take the wind out of Wahconah’s sails for about a minute, and the Spartans nearly cashed in with a goal that would have put the game out of reach.
But with about three minutes left, the visitors earned a corner kick that led to Calvert getting a try inside the 6 on the right wing side. He sent a shot across the goal in front of Arienti that ricocheted off a Monument Mountain defender and into the net for an own goal to make it 3-2.
Wahconah coach Kyle Lyman said it was in character for his squad to rally after Kinne’s late goal.
“That’s this team,” Lyman said. “This team has a bunch of confidence. This team has a bunch of fight in them. This loss was a little setback for us. But I’m not worried at all. I’m excited to go to playoffs because I believe our best soccer is in front of us.”
With just less than a minute to play, Wahconah had a free kick in its defensive third and called timeout to talk about how to generate one more opportunity for the equalizer. But the Spartans were able to win a 50/50 ball in the midfield and execute the tactics they discussed during the timeout.
“We just talked about seeing the game out and being smart … to play into a corner and make sure we held onto possession and making sure we didn’t have to go to goal,” Naventi said. “That’s exactly what Sam [Higa] did. He made a smart play, and Colin [Kinne] ended up getting fouled, and that was the rest of the game.”
The next game for Monument Mountain (8-6-2) will come in next week’s Western Massachusetts tournament.
Wahconah (7-4-2) goes to Mahar on Saturday afternoon before finishing the regular season at Easthampton on Sunday.
