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KEVIN GUTTING

Belchertown senior forward Jon Martins, right, maintains control of the ball despite a tackle by SherShah Atif of Mount Greylock during the Orioles' 4-3 upset victory in a Western Massachusetts Division 2 semifinal game played at Northampton High School Thursday.

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KEVIN GUTTING

Belchertown freshman midfielder Chris Riel, second from left, is congratulated after scoring the Orioles' third goal against Mount Greylock during the first half of their 4-3 upset win in a Western Massachusetts Division 2 semifinal game played at Northampton High School Thursday. Joining him are, from left, Jonathan Duperre, Bobby Fitzpatrick, Nick DeSantis and Dan Leary, right, who scored two of the goals. Behind Riel, obscured, is Jon Martins who scored the first goal.

NORTHAMPTON - Putting only four shots on goal usually doesn't land a soccer team in the win column.

But when you put all four in the back of the net, your chances certainly improve.

The Belchertown boys soccer team made the most of its opportunities in a 4-3 upset victory over top-seeded and defending state champion Mount Greylock Thursday night in a Western Massachusetts Division 2 semifinal at Northampton High School.

No. 5 Belchertown (9-3-6) advanced to the sectional final to face No. 2 Palmer (17-2-1) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Westfield State College.

"It feels great, and I'm thrilled for these guys," said Belchertown coach Tony Almeida. "The last two years, we took a lot of beatings. For the seniors to be in the finals, it's great to see them excited like this."

Senior midfielder Dan Leary had a pair of goals, including the eventual game winner.

"The feeling is indescribable," said Leary. "We worked to win our division this year, but that didn't happen. We wanted to get to the championship game, and now we're there.

"We've been wanting Palmer this whole time," he added. The Panthers beat the Orioles 2-1 Oct. 9 at Palmer.

With just over nine minutes remaining in regulation and the score tied 3-3, Leary set up inside the near post and redirected a perfect throw-in from Jon Duperre past Mounties goalie Sean Houston.

"Jon and I have been working in practices on his throw-ins because he throws it far," Leary said. "I couldn't get a head on it, so I just slide-tackled it in."

Mount Greylock, which finished at 17-2, charged hard in the final nine minutes. But Belchertown flooded the box with defenders and did not allow a good scoring chance.

"Coach told us that if we can get the ball out of our defensive end, just to blast it out and let them play with it out there," Leary said.

Belchertown came out flying and built a 3-0 lead just 17 minutes into the first half. All three tallies came on headers.

"A lot of our goals this year weren't on headers, because we're not that tall a team," said Leary.

The Mounties responded almost immediately with two goals of their own within a minute of each other. Luke Costley and Jordan Tuboly got them back to within 3-2 with 19:25 left in the first half.

"That seems to be the pattern all year," said Leary. "We score three real quick, then let it up, but we pulled this one together."

"We let them in the game, but the guys knew what they had to do," Almeida said. "I told them after we scored the three goals that it was 0-0, and we knew they would come back at us."

With about seven minutes gone in the first half, Leary set up senior midfielder Jon Martins right down the middle. Houston came out to challenge, but Martins headed it by him and into the empty goal.

Ten minutes later, Nick DeSantis sent a crossing feed to Leary at the left post. His head ball snuck around the far post and into the net.

The Orioles led by three goals just 47 seconds later, when Chris Riel put one in at the left post.

The intense pressure by Mount Greylock broke down the Belchertown defense for much of the game. The Mounties took 13 shots, with Orioles' keeper Dylan Bachand making 10 saves. He had to stop a couple of long shots late in the second half. "They came at us and they put a lot of pressure on us, but the kids stuck to the game plan, and fortunately we pulled it off," said Almeida.

The Orioles spent much of the second half with one forward back. However, they allowed the tying goal with 25:58 remaining. Tyler Grees ripped a shot past Bachand from about 15 yards.

Almeida said of Grees, "I could tell by watching them that he is a great player. So I put a man on him with a back-up stopper, and our goal wasn't to let him any open shots. He did get the one, but I'm OK with one. We marked him tight with Brian Boudreau."

Almeida added that it was the first time his team had marked any player all season.

"I had an opportunity to watch (Mount Greylock) on Tuesday, and (Wednesday) we did a bit of a workout to get ready," he said. "We knew who we needed to cover, and what kind of system to put into place. It worked out for us."