Recap for the game: Franklin County vs McCann Tech on Oct 28
Hornets Lose Heartbreaker in Season Finale
Staff reports
10:15PM / Sunday, October 30, 2011
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- It wasn't how the season was supposed to end.
The McCann Tech boys' soccer team was rolling, winners out of four of its last five games and needing a victory over Franklin Tech at home on Friday to clinch second place in the Tri-County League and a spot in the Western Mass. tournament.
The Hornets overcame a 2-1 deficit early in the second half to take a 3-2 lead on goals by senior Nate Gutmann and junior Chad Raimer. Adam Kozik's club carried that lead until there was less than five minutes left in the game but, unfortunatley for McCann, the Eagles didn't go down easily. Franklin scored a pair of goals in the final four and half minutes to pull out a 4-3 win and deny the Hornets a spot in the postseason.
"Needless to say, this was a tough way to end the season," Kozik said. "This was a must-win situation if we wanted to take second place in the Tri-County League and be tournament bound. Unfortunately, Franklin Tech had another late rally. They improved from last year as well as from our last meeting. They have good combination plays that set up nice shots on goal. That being said, we still could have won the game."
After dropping a 2-1 decision to McCann (7-10-1) last month, the Eagles rallied back from a pair of deficits to earn the win on Friday. Gutmann, who scored a team-high 15 goals for the Hornets this season, got the hosts on the board two minutes in on pass across the field from sophomore Josh Budaj. Gabe Mazeski tied the game 12 minutes later for Franklin, however, and the two teams went into halftime tied at one goal apiece.
Tom Anderson then put the visitors up 2-1 by scoring off of a feed from Chase Tasmjian in the 50th minute, but McCann rallied right back by scoring two goals in a span of 83 seconds. Gutmann first headed in long pass from sophomore Evan Lemire in the 61st minute and then set up Raimer for his 13th goal of the season less than a minute and a half later.
Things took a turn for the worse for the Hornets, however, when Damon Couture, one of Kozik's best defenders, went down with an injury with 15 minutes left to play. That opened the door for Franklin, who tied the game on a Matt Lujppold goal in the 76th minute. Anderson then finished off the comeback with less than two minutes remaining, scoring his second goal of the game off of Tasmjian's second assist of the contest.
Connor Vazquez made 11 saves in goal for McCann. He finished the 2011 season with a remarkable 267 saves and an average of 2.6 goals allowed per game. Steven Shearer made 13 stops in net for the Eagles, who held a slight 25-23 edge in shots in the match.
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