SOUTH HADLEY — No. 6 Northampton gave a shorthanded No. 3 South Hadley team a run for its money on Tuesday night, but it was the home team that walked away with the victory in the first round of the Pioneer Valley Summer Soccer League playoffs.

South Hadley came back from a 2-0 deficit to secure a tight 3-2 win, eliminating Northampton in the quarterfinals. South Hadley will play either No. 2 Chicopee or No. 7 Ludlow in the semifinals for a trip to the championship.

Though South Hadley had the majority of possession in the first half, especially closer to halftime, Northampton capitalized on every opportunity it had to take an early lead.

Owen MacLachlan got the game’s first goal, streaking up the left wing and firing a solid shot past keeper Maxwell Barcome-Laflamme to make it 1-0 Northampton 10 minutes into the contest. They doubled that lead 13 minutes later when Gus Frey scored on a follow-up on a Sam Busone shot, giving Northampton all the momentum.

“At the beginning, they were pressing down really fast. They’re a great team over there, which is what we tried to incorporate in the second half with us pressing on them harder. We were giving up the ball real quick when they were pressing down on this quick so we tried to do the same,” South Hadley coach Liam Joy said.

Though they were down 2-0, South Hadley worked all the harder to cut the deficit. As the clock wound down in the first half, the home squad got a golden opportunity when Jack Chagnon stepped up to take a free kick. Chagnon shot the ball towards the left post past a diving keeper Matthew Walko to make it 2-1 going into halftime.

South Hadley kept Northampton on their heels in the second half, but had a hard time getting past keeper Walko, who made big stop after big stop to keep Northampton ahead.

“He is by far the most solid part of our team here. He keeps us alive, he keeps us in every game. I can’t say enough about him,” Northampton head coach Chad Busone said. “He is definitely an MVP for us.”

Despite Walko’s MVP-worthy performance, South Hadley’s pressure got to Northampton 15 minutes into the second half. Walko went to clear the ball off the goal line but turned it over to a wide-open Ari Alatalo, who scored the tying goal to even things up.

South Hadley broke the stalemate with just under 10 minutes left in the contest. A corner kick from Daniel Beaulieu found Martin Dixon in front of the net, who managed to deflect it into the goal for the go-ahead goal.

Northampton pressed hard trying to find an equalizer, but South Hadley keeper Barcome-Laflamme made a huge stop on a free kick in extra time and the home team’s defense just managed to keep the ball out despite ferocious attacks from the visitor’s offense.

“We’re losing a lot of kids from vacation this week, a lot of important kids from injury, and to still come through and get a W after being down is a great feeling,” Chagnon said.

Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.]]>