GRANBY – Meghan Bell rang true twice in the second half, netting a brace for the Smith Academy girls soccer team to lead the No. 4 Falcons past No. 1 Granby 3-0 in the Western Massachusetts Class E semifinals on Saturday.
Smith Academy (12-2-4) will face No. 3 Mount Everett in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Agawam High School. The Eagles bested No. 2 Hopkins Academy 1-0 in the other semifinal.
The Falcons have never played for a sectional title before, let alone won one.
“I’ve played on this team since seventh grade. We’ve never been here,” Bell said. “I’m just so happy that all of our hard work is playing off.”
The Falcons weren’t intimidated by the top seed on its home turf. Freshman Anna Scagel struck in the eighth minute, ripping a first-time shot that trickled out to her near the top of the box.
“I just shot it as hard as I could,” Scagel said. “It was definitely a confidence booster, but we needed to make sure they didn’t score. We had to hold it in.”
Smith Academy kept Granby at bay in the first half and carried that lead into halftime.
“We showed up confident. We knew we had an opportunity to be competitive, and when you pop that first goal it takes a lot of stress off,” Smith Academy coach David Zononi said. “I said ‘this is not going to be 1-0. You gotta go out and get at least one more.’”
Bell gave them two more. She converted in the 74th minute and the 76th, assisted by Story Goldman on the second.
“We kept our intensity up, and we put it all on the field,” Bell said. “At the beginning coach told us ‘this is your one opportunity. You got one shot for this.’ We took our one shot.”
Granby (4-10-3) opened its defense to the counters that produced the goals as it pushed for an equalizer. The Rams narrowly missed two breakaway shots in the second half that would have changed the complexion of the game.
“It seemed that they came out and wanted it a little more than we did. Our execution was not what we expected. They beat us to a lot of free balls,” Granby coach Bob Weaver said. “We thought if we got the first goal (of the second half) and put them on their heels we would start to take control. But you gotta give them credit, they kept punching away.”
The Rams aren’t down for the count, though. Granby is the No. 21 team in the Division 5 power rankings and should qualify for the state tournament.
“We have two great senior leaders that will get us there. We have a tremendously young team,” Weaver said. “There's no second guessing. I think they learned a ton this whole season. It's going to prepare them for years to come.”
Mount Everett 1, Hopkins Academy 0 – Emily Steuernagle scored an overtime winner for the Eagles to upset the No. 2 Golden Hawks in Hadley on Saturday.
Hopkins put 17 shots on net but couldn’t bury one.
Golden Hawks keeper Cassidy Fyden made eight saves. Hopkins will be part of the Division state field and was ranked No. 25 in the latest list.
Class B SemisSouth Hadley 6, Wahconah 1 – The top-seeded Tigers built a 4-1 halftime lead and cruised to a win in the Class B semifinals on Sunday.
Lauren Marjanski and Maddie Soderbaum tallied two goals apiece for South Hadley, which also received goals from Emma Sanford and Abby Gelinas. Jordyn Balint dished out two assists, while Rachel Yabra and Gianna Roy each had a helper.
South Hadley goalies Rylee Suchenicz (five saves) and Drew Alley (four) handled most of the action sent their way.
The Tigers will face second-seeded Belchertown at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Holyoke for the title. It’s the second year in a row the teams have met for the championship. Belchertown won on a last-second goal last year.