Pittsfield's Castillo Reaches Milestone in Loss

BELCHERTOWN, Mass. – Alexa Karbetsos scored a pair of goals Thursday to lead the Belchertown girls soccer team to a 3-0 win over Pittsfield in the quarter-finals of the Western Massachusetts Class B Tournament.

 

The Generals saw their run in the regional tournament come to an end but saw their senior keeper reach a major milestone in the loss.

 

Harolyn Castillo stopped 16 shots to reach the 500-save plateau, coming out of the contest with 512 stops.

 

“Celebrating Harolyn's 500 save mark was a wonderful tribute to a fantastic student-athlete who gives her all every day,” Pittsfield coach Molly West said. “Playing in a higher division for the last three years, Harolyn took a beating most games, but her positive attitude, love for her team and desire allowed her to be one of the best goalies in the area.”

 

Pittsfield went into half-time against the top-seeded Orioles down by just a goal, but Belchertown was able to tack on two insurance scores in the final 40 minutes to reach the semi-finals.

 

“Belchertown was more fundamentally sound and their crisp passing was the best we've seen all year,” West said. “We moved our formation around to attempt to thwart middle runs and, for the most part, were successful, but the goals came with poor marking and losing the players. We had a few good chances but were unable to finish. Bre'Jai Ellerbee was outstanding as our stopper today. Proud of the girls for their hard work today and all year.”

 

Pittsfield (8-6-3) will play a consolation game before learning on Nov. 1 who it will face in the first round of the Division 3 State Tournament.