THE NRHS boys’ soccer team traveled to Martha’s Vineyard for a non-conference game on Oct. 23 in order to get ready for potentially long road trips in the tourney. The No. 22 Hornets start their D3 state tournament at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at No. 11 North Middlesex Regional, about an hour west of NRHS. (Nancy Carpenter Photo)

 


By DAN NUNN

NORTH READING — On October 23, the NRHS boys’ soccer team made the nearly 2 hour and 45-minute trek to Martha’s Vineyard for a Division 3 non-conference clash with the 16th rated Vineyards and earned a 0-0 draw.

“Knowing that the new statewide tournament would be in play this fall I thought it would be a good experience for the team to take a long road trip,” head coach Mark Bisognano said. “We could play anywhere in the state in the first rounds so we wanted to be prepared for that. We played a good game against a strong opponent, so this trip checked all the boxes.”

This was only the second game of the season on natural grass for North Reading. The field was a good 10 yards wider than the Hornets’ home field and it played even bigger than that with the grass keeping the ball in play.

NRHS had a couple of good scoring opportunities in the first half from junior Josh Stanieich and senior captain Alex Carpenter that were turned away by the MV goalkeeper.

North Reading came out flying in the second half. Senior Jake Mikulski had a golden opportunity on a Carpenter cross, but his volley effort went just wide of the right post.

As the half went on, the Vineyard started taking control of the game. Fortunately, junior goalkeeper Kieran Gorgenyi made three top notch saves including a sprawling save to his left that kept the ball out of the top corner of the goal.

Beat Newburyport Clippers

Junior Josh Stanieich scored the lone goal as the Hornets spoiled the CAL Kinney Division champion Newburyport Clippers quest for an undefeated season and recorded their biggest win of the season on October 25.

Bisognano praised his team’s performance, “So many people played well in this one; it was a true team effort. Tonight, we did all the little things it takes to beat a great team.”

Newburyport came into the game with a 14-0-1 record and their power ranking put them at No. 6 in Division 3. The first half was a back and forth affair with North Reading enjoying nearly 60 percent of the possession but the half would end scoreless.

In the second stanza, NRHS was able to create three sterling chances. The first was in the 43rd minute when junior Brady Miller sent Carpenter in on the right side for a partial breakaway. Carpenter was forced into a toe poke though that the goalkeeper smothered. In the 73rd minute Stanieich curled a beautiful free kick from 22 yards out headed for the bottom right corner, but the Newburyport goalkeeper came out of nowhere to make a spectacular save.

The third chance turned out to be the charm and broke the scoreless tie with only 1:25 left. Schulz split two defenders with a great pass to Stanieich who collected the ball 30 yards from goal. Stanieich held off one defender, cut the ball back to his left foot and hammered a sizzling shot past the helpless goalkeeper.

Fall to Pentucket Sachems

The Hornets finished the regular season on a sour note as they surrendered a 1-0 halftime advantage to Pentucket on October 27. Freshman Matt Fleury scored for North Reading.

“Honestly, that first half was one of the best halves of soccer that we’ve played, not just this season, but in the last couple seasons,” said Bisognano. “Unfortunately, we lost our focus in the second half.”

This one was a tale of two halves. The first half was a tremendous half of soccer for the Hornets.  The Hornets had multiple chances, but only snuck one by the Pentucket goalkeeper. The goal came 22 minutes into the game. Freshman Max Gulino beat a defender on the left wing and then cut a low cross back toward Fleury at the top of the penalty area. Fleury made no mistake and buried the first time shot in the top right corner of the goal.

The second half was a completely different story and Pentucket made the Hornets pay for their missed opportunities to extend their lead. Pentucket scored the tying strike in the 47th minute on a deflection. With 15 minutes left, the Hornets were forced to foul a Pentucket player in the penalty area. The ensuing penalty kick was converted for the game winner.

No. 22 North Reading travels to No. 11 North Middlesex for a first round game on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.