FRANKLIN, Mass. — Even in his 52nd year at the helm of the Franklin boys soccer program, legendary head coach Fran Bositis still gets nervous for playoff games.
Finally, in the 87th minute, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Senior Trey Lovell scored on a left-footed shot from 25 yards out in the seventh minute of the first overtime to give the 10th-seeded Panthers a 1-0 win over upset-minded #23 Belmont.
“I knew right away,” Lovell said of his shot, which floated over the reach of the outstretched Marauder’s keeper. “We didn’t have a lot of shots in the game so we were just trying to do what we could to get a shot off. We got the one that counted so that’s all that matters.”
Junior Andrew O’Neill carried possession over midfield before spraying it out wide to the right wing to senior Will Kryzak. Kryzak carried forward before four Belmont players ascended on him, defending in numbers like they had all game. Kryzak cut back and hit a square pass to Lovell, who used a touch with his right to set up his left-footed blast that found the back of the net for the winner.
“It was a hell of a strike,” Bositis said. “I thought we did a pretty good job with the wind in our face in that first overtime and we were fortunate to have Trey get that shot, and it was a beautiful shot that’s for sure.”
The win sends Franklin into the Division 1 Round of 16 against #26 Leominster, who upset Framingham in penalty kicks.
The game went into sudden-victory overtime and 80 scoreless minutes of regulation. The first 40 minutes featured a lot of pace from both sides, and a lot of challenges and changes in possession, but not a ton of genuine scoring chances by either side.
Of the few chances in the opening half, Franklin junior goalie Jack Perlman had the highlight stop. In the 15th minute, Belmont’s Sachil Kenkre danced his way into space before lacing a shot that looked destined to find its way just inside the post and in but Perlman made a strong diving stop to parry it out.
“I thought Belmont worked hard and pressured us,” Bositis said. “They restricted our time and space and I thought we handled it as well as we could have.”
For the first half hour of the second half, Franklin established control of the play, dictating the pace of play. It took less than two minutes for the hosts to register a good scoring chance.
Sophomore Garret Scagliarini used the outside of his right foot to play a ball down the right flank and Kryzak ran onto it with speed, smashing a hard shot just wide of the far post, inches from the opener.
Just over 15 minutes into the second half, the Panthers found more success down the right side. Junior Bradley Herndon stepped up to win a challenge in the middle third and made a good run forward, connecting with Kryzak for a quick 1-2 before firing a shot at the near post that forced a save.
Scagliarini set up Franklin’s final good chance of regulation, coming away with a clearance attempt from the Marauders, setting it down before laying off a pass to Lovell for a shot but it tailed wide at the far post.
After controlling play for 30 minutes, the Panthers suddenly found themselves on the back foot for the final 10. Belmont continued to get forward, getting the ball over the top and getting a handful of chances in the area.
Franklin’s defense, which had Scagliarini and junior Gustavo Martinez on the outsides, Herndon and Will Klawson man-marking in the middle, and junior Rex Cinelli as a sweeper, dealt with the chances though there were some nervy moments, including a wide-open bid from the Marauders that went wide in the final moments.
“I thought our team played well defensively,” Bositis said. “I don’t know what happened for the last five minutes…but I thought Rex did a really good job in the back. We made one adjustment because early on in the first half, with their two front runners, we were giving them too much time and space. We just took Will Klawson and Bradley [Herndon] and just had them mark them and Rex essentially played as a sweeper. We pushed Noah [Cain] into the midfield instead of playing at the six.
“It seemed to help with our marking but we just never really got on track offensively. We didn’t take a lot of shots, and Belmont had a lot to do with that.”
Overtime went without many chances for the first five-plus minutes, though the Panthers got good work out of junior Hansy Jacques up top. Paxton Rosen came in to play goal and handled anything that came over the top of the defense.
Franklin boys soccer (15-3-1) will host Leominster later this week, currently scheduled for Thursday at 6:00.