Belmont High Soccer: Unbeaten Boys' and Girls' (Mostly) Tied Up This Week

In England, the goal scored in the final moments of a tight match is described as happening "at the death."

For the undefeated (2-0-3) Belmont High School Girls' team, this conclusion of this week's games saw the Marauders allow two teams to come back from the dead to snatch a pair of points from squad. 

Over on the Belmont Boys' Soccer side, the week saw the team continue its great form as it added a comeback win and a solid performance by junior goaltender Berens to remain undefeated (4-0-1) with its best start to a season in recent memory.

For Girls' Head Coach Paul Graham, the ending of both games, a 1-1 result away at Reading on Tuesday, Sept. 17 and a heartbreaking 2-2 tie to Arlington Thursday, Sept. 19, was what young teams allow .

"It's just inexperience," said Graham as the Marauders allowed goals within the final minute of both games to see victories turn to frustration. 

Thursday game saw Belmont host neighbors Arlington which came into the match as the best and most explosive team in the Middlesex League having won its first four games scoring 21 goals and giving up a mere 2 by being more physical, faster and shooting, shooting, shooting the ball. 

And Belmont saw most of the action on its side of midfield as the SpyPonders attempted to use balls through the center to open up the wings for passes to their strikers. And Belmont attackers found themselves off-sides more than a half-a-dozen times by Arlington's defenders moving up field.

But it was Belmont which took care of its opportunities, scoring on two opportunities in the Arlington box; freshman Ava Colasin smartly turned her defender to grab a bouncing ball and bury it in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the game while Lizze Frick stuck a foot on the ball during Belmont's only corner of the half to double the lead with about 12 minutes left in the half.

Despite Arlington's gaudy goal count, Belmont's back line lead by center back standout Lucia Guzikowski who nullified league scoring leader Katja Dunlap, played a bend but not break defense with goalie Linda Herlihy playing a solid game, snaring several low targeted shots on the line.

The second half saw Arlington switch to add an additional striker up front and their midfielders going forward. It appeared that Belmont could weather the storm but a quick strike up field saw Arlington reduce the score to one with 12 minutes remaining and, after a time out by the SpyPonders after a questionable foul on Belmont on a body-to-body contact call with less than a minute remaining, Arlington scored when Herlihy just couldn't get to the ball on the resulting free kick and was caught out of her net. 

"I saw extremely proud of how the team played. It really comes down to executing in the final minutes," said Graham.

On Tuesday night, senior captain Gabby Joyal buried a shot from distance to give Belmont a 1-0 lead at Reading High only to see the Rockets sneak a goal in with just about a minute remaining to give the Marauders a single point from their effort. 

For Belmont's Boys, the close games demonstrates just how tight games in the Middlesex League will be for remainder of the season, said Marauder's Head Coach Peter Guellnitz.

"I was talking to the Reading coach and we said that this year all the games will be one goal games. The league is so competitive this year because their is a lot of parity," said Guellnitz, who saw his team come back from a one-goal deficit Tuesday at halftime to take command in the second half and score twice to beat Reading High School 2-1. 

After the Rockets senior captain Dane Sulliivan put in a miscue by Belmont's solid junior goaltender Peter Berens 10 minutes into the game, Belmont began taking control of the midfield.

The second half was the Marauders, leading to senior Michael Chertkov's rocket of a goal three minutes into the half with an assist by defender/instant offense Luke Gallagher.

And Belmont went ahead on a corner when Trevor Kelly distracted the Reading keeper Tom Bunch allowing the ball to sail onto the foot/knee/body of Ben Lazenby and into net midway through the half. It took a diving save by Bernes to seal the victory.

"What can you say? It was a tale of two halves and this team shows that we can now keep a lead and come back from being down," said Guellnitz.

On Thursday, Belmont rode Berens outstanding play in net to secure a 0-0, kiss your sister tie with host Arlington (2-1-2), leaving Belmont atop the Middlesex League's Liberty Division.