The boys varsity soccer team celebrates their district victory. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Bromfield senior Will Schwarz sends the ball high for a score against Maynard.
Sophmore Matt Jones (center) steals the ball from his Maynard opponents.
Last weekend the Bromfield boys soccer team won the district title against Maynard, and on Tuesday beat Easthampton to qualify for the state championship match this Saturday.
Maynard was not favored to make it to the district finals, but qualified with a 1–0 upset over Douglas. The Trojans made it to the districts after prevailing 3–0 against rival Bartlett, a win that was particularly sweet after last year’s loss to that team.
Leading scorer and league all-star Josh Lyvers started off the scoring 10 minutes into the contest with a rebound shot, to make it 1–0. However, after twisting his knee on a play in the midfield, Lyvers was sidelined for the rest of the game. The Trojans responded to the injury by putting Greg Wenger at forward and replacing Lyvers with talented junior midfielder Jon Alexander. Cody Osgood continued the scoring by following up a low Wenger crank from outside the box, placing a cutting shot into the side netting to make it 2–0. Osgood later finished up a short shot off a pass from a center midfielder to level out the first-half score at 3–0.
The Trojans started out the second half with plenty of offensive opportunities. Senior Brian Morgan made repeated outside passes to outside midfielders Ben Brown, senior captain, and Jon Alexander, who then made risky crosses inside the penalty area. Wenger added two more of his own shots minutes into the second half, taking a pass in the center off the midfield and firing a low knuckling shot past Maynard goalkeeper Nick Hill, to make it 4–0. Wenger struck again moments later off a long, left-footed cross from Brown, placing a low shot past Hill to bump the score to 5–0. Osgood scored later to help cement the Trojans’ 6–0 lead.
Senior substitutes Mike Girard, Will Schwarz, Connor Kempton, and Nick Kimball made a strong showing for the Trojans. Schwarz added a goal for himself late in the game after a Morgan free kick fooled the Maynard goalkeeper, allowing Schwarz to place a header into the corner to further widen the lead. Junior Ryan Parker rounded out the final tally off a Matt Jones pass, rifling a shot into the top corner, bringing the final score to 8–0.
The Trojans controlled the majority of the play in both halves, with the midfield dictating play and the defense bringing a solid performance throughout. The Tigers managed only one testing shot on goalkeeper Caleb Frost in the entire game.
