Lenox and Monument duel to tie in preparation of playoffs

LENOX – The Millionaires and Spartans have both endured successful boys’ soccer seasons as the year ended this past week for both.

Lenox, after tying Monument 1-1 at home last Thursday, beat non-league Monson 3-2, while the Spartans handled soccer powerhouse Cathedral 2-0 last Sunday.

“We are finally getting there,” said Lenox Head Coach Scott Chadwick. “We are playing more of our game, there has been lots of lumps and bumps over the course of [the season] and we just got through a tough schedule.” (Three Division 1 teams from the Pioneer Valley.)

The Spartans, who trailed Lenox 1-0 for most of the game, were coming off a tough schedule as well, as they had a pair of tough matches against Mount Greylock and Belchertown.

“They responded [Thursday],” said Monument Head Coach Matt Naventi. “After having a couple of tough games, to be down 1-0, and get some pressure like that, it’s good for what we are going to see in the tournament in a couple of weeks.”

Monument’s leading scorer Nick Maseiro, one-timed a beautiful goal off a cross to the far post by Daniel Huertas, with 12:04 left in the Lenox game to tie the score and earn the Spartans a point.

“Danny played him a nice ball and [Nick] put a decent touch on it, with an angle to see the back of the net,” Naventi said.

Maseiro, who is often double-teamed when he finds the ball, has persevered throughout the season to become one of the county’s best offensive threats.

“It’s tough because the northern teams, when he gets anywhere near the ball – [Maseiro] gets double-teamed, yet he works so hard that he is going to get his opportunities to score – he is such a hard-worker to the ball,” Naventi said.

Lenox, utilizing their short field, played a 4-5-1 spread with one attacker and five mid-fielders against Monument, to compact the field and keep Maseiro from getting wide or have space to run.

“[Lenox’s] plan is to pack it in and limit our opportunities, unfortunately we had a couple of good looks in the beginning of the game – we couldn’t capitalize with a mistake in the back,” Naventi said.

The Millionaires were able to take advantage of their limited chances in the first half, as Lenox’s Seamus Ryan forced a turnover in the Spartan backline and the Millionaires’ leading scorer, Andrew Vickery, was able to one-time a rocket past the Spartan goalie for the early lead.

“We had pressure and we had pressured their back four pretty well,” Chadwick said. “During that [first half], we tried to keep everything packed and organized and the goal helped.”

In the second half, with Lenox holding onto the 1-0 lead, Chadwick moved his star attacker (Vickery) to the defensive backline to match up against Maseiro, creating some physical runs down the sideline as both tried to jostle for position.

“That’s something we tried a couple of games ago,” Chadwick said. “We are trying to stiffen up the back line with [Vickery] – he’s fast, physical and good in the air and a good one-on-one defender.”

Besides Vickery moving to the backline with a Lenox lead, Chadwick has also moved Alex Pratt to the backline from his normal mid-fielder position.

“We have attacking options, we just need to add to our mid-field and defensive options,” Chadwick said of the moves.

Look for both Monument and Lenox to have successful runs in the western Massachusetts tournament, with the Spartans appearing to be a favorite in their Division 2 bracket.

Posted by Tim Davis on November 1, 2012. Filed under High School Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry