Generals Boys Soccer Drops Overtime Decision To St. Mary's

Last year the boys soccer team bowed out of the Div. 3 North sectionals .

Monday night at Manning Field in Lynn it appeared history would repeat itself as the clock wound down to less than 5 minutes remaining in the second 10-minute overtime period against St. Mary’s.

The Generals wish it got that far.

Spartans senior forward Ralph Bertrand completed the hat trick with 4:39 showing on the clock when he flicked a header past Generals goalie Luke Besse for a 3-2 win, ending the game, and Hamilton-Wenham’s season in the quarterfinals.

“St. Mary’s is a good team,” said Hamilton-Wenham coach Matt Gauron. “There were good chances on both sides but on their final chance they took advantage.”

The decisive tally started on a free kick from about 35 yards out. The call was pushing in the back on Hamilton-Wenham, a call that didn’t appear to be called for the majority of the contest. The ball found Betrand running onto it at the left post and his header found the middle of the net.

“We were letting them dictate a lot of the game,” Spartans coach Mike D’Agostino said. “We saw a sense of urgency and scored.”

Hamilton-Wenham arrived at Monday night's sectional quarterfinals after .

The 11th-seeded Generals (8-7-2) forced St. Mary's into overtime with a goal with 5:09 remaining in the second half. That capped 10 minutes of furious pressure on St. Mary’s, the third seed.

Chris Carlson booted a free kick from 30 yards out to Ian Kelley, who then headed the ball to Charlie Serpa. The senior then completed the play with a header past goalie Helio Neto, for his second goal of the game.

“We were pretty fired up (after the tying goal). We thought we could go into overtime and win,” said sophomore Russell Gregorian, who helped Hamilton-Wenham control the midfield.

“We played hard and they played hard. But in the end they had one more opportunity.”

Gregorian set up Serpa’s first tally when he sent a perfectly angled through pass to his sprinting teammate. Serpa found the right corner of the net from the left post for a 1-0 advantage with 16:30 left in the first half.

"Our midfield play wasn’t what we hoped (before the goal),”  Gauron said. “Once we scored we got our energy and we finally got the ball at our feet and moved it.”

St. Mary’s tied the game 9 minutes into the second half when Bertrand took a pass from Alexander Alleyne, who was on the left wing, and scored just inside the left post.

Bertrand’s second goal came with 21:53 left in the game. A Spartans corner kick was headed out by Hamilton-Wenham but the ball went to Mike Sonia, who passed to Bertrand who finished the play with a goal that hit the crossbar and dropped in past the goal line.

St. Mary's goes on to face the winner of , No. 2, versus Matignon High School, No. 2 - a game which will be played in Lynnfield on Tuesday afternoon.