Recap for the game: McCann Tech vs Putnam on Oct 19
Beaves Defeat Hornets in Rain-soaked Game
Staff reports
10:07AM / Sunday, October 28, 2012
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — There was a reason why a majority of the soccer games throughout Berkshire County were canceled on Friday. Horrible, rainy weather conditions made many of the fields unplayable, and the fact that the McCann Tech boys' soccer team had to take the field had Hornets' head coach Adam Kozik feeling pretty miserable.
Add in the fact that McCann lost a close 2-1 game to division rival Putnam, a team that the Hornets handled 4-0 at home last month, and one could understand Kozik's frustrations.
"This game was a mess from the start," he said. "There had been hours of rain and the field was unplayable on one of the touchlines. The width of the field was decreased by about 10 yards to avoid the flooded area. But due to the wet, muddy playing surface and multiple small puddles, there were many slips and falls that came from the inexperience of playing in the rain. it is really unheard of to play in such conditions nowadays.
"Fortunately, there were no injuries because of the falls.The refs constantly reminded the coaches about the obvious dangers and the chance of a sudden end to the game."
The Beavers took a 1-0 lead early in the first half when Tyler Tatro came up with a ball in a puddle of mud and scored with his left foot. McCann (7-7) tied it in the 20th minute, however, when senior Chad Raimer scored off an assist from sophomore Shane Fuller. Later in the second half, Hornets' goalie P.J. Laliberte blocked a shot by Putnam's Alex Rodriguez. McCann sweeper Dillon Carr attempted to clear the ball off of the goal line but instead, the wet, muddy field caused him to slip and fall and knock the ball into the goal.
"We missed many chances to score in these conditions, and this is what put us under during the game," Kozik said. To top it all off, [Laliberte] was red carded with a few minutes to play. There was an aggressive action against a striker after making a save on the ground. Congrats to Putnam for playing better in the puddles, mud, and rain."
Laliberte finished with 10 saves in the game, while Beavers' keeper Erik Vasquez finished with 15 stops.
The Hornets return to action with a road game at Pathfinder at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
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