BOXFORD — You just have to be perfect, and you can’t slip up even once.
That’s the message that Jared Scarpaci delivered to his Masconomet boys soccer team when the subject of coming back to win the Northeastern Conference title was broached. Sure, the Chieftains could still do so, but after early season setbacks to Marblehead and Beverly, they’d have to win the remainder of their regular season games to claim the crown.
As the calendar turned from September to October on Wednesday, Masconomet turned in arguably its best performance of the season against their NEC biggest threat.
Senior Tim Lull scored a pair of goals seven-and-a-half minutes into the game, classmate Enzo Nteta buried a penalty kick early in the second half, and goalkeeper Gabe Russo pitched his sixth consecutive shutout as the Chieftains ended Beverly’s unbeaten and unbeaten reign with a 3-0 triumph.
“There’s a level of surprise,” Scarpaci admitted. “We knew it was going to be tight, but I didn’t expect this.”
Since falling to the Panthers on September 10, Masconomet (now 8-2) has won six straight via shutout while scoring 23 goals of their own.
Telling his team they’d “get another bite of the apple” if they could maintain their winning ways, Scarpaci said his players felt as if they should have won their first meeting against Beverly, but that the “wheels fell off the bus” in the second half, resulting in a 4-2 loss.
He also stressed the scant few times that Masconomet has been a decided underdog in any game, much less on their home field. Scarpaci also harkened back to the last time his Chieftains played an undefeated squad, taking on unscored-upon Nauset in the 2016 Division 2 state final. While Masconomet lost that outing, 2-1, they did score.
“We told them ‘Look; you have nothing to lose. They have the pressure on them; they’re the ones with the perfect record. We know what we’re playing for’,” he said
After the contest, Beverly (9-1-1) head coach Edgar de Leon said he felt like his team needed a game like this to help refocus and re-prioritize.
“When you’re riding high and everyone’s look at you like you’re the best, being ranked second in the (Division 1) rankings and it’s Beverly this and Beverly that, you need to take some losses to ground you a little bit,” he said. “There’s a moment you get brought back down to reality, and this is what this is for us.
“We hadn’t been behind in any game since the first preseason game we played. It’s good for us to learn that we have to be ready to go from the start and can’t afford mistakes, especially against a great team like Masconomet.”
The hosts caught Beverly back on their heels less than two minutes in. A low, hard cross from Nteta ricocheted in front of the Beverly cage, and Lull was positioned at the left post to put it away.
Just over five minutes later Lull doubled his team’s advantage with his fifth goal of the season, this time with Chester Thompson assisting on his rebound tally.
“Timmy’s an All-State 400 runner with great stamina and speed who chases balls down and has a little bit of a nose for the net,” said Scarpaci.
Twelve minutes in and his club already down a pair, de Leon pulled his two best offensive players out and sat them for the remainder of the half.
“When you have a talented group,” he said, “the players start to find their own way around. Sometimes they make decisions where they think they’re trying to help, but when they fall out of place it takes away from what everyone else’s role is, so we’re not working as a unit.
“My role as a coach is make sure all 11 players on the field are on the same page, and when two players decide to make a change on their own without anyone else knowing it throws off our game plan, our plan of attack, everything that we do.
“Lesson learned that there’s a person running this … and there’s people who play on the field.”
Nteta connected on his PK three minutes into the second half, expanding Masco’s lead.
Russo, who shut down the state’s highest scoring team (Beverly had produced 41 goals in its first 9 contests), made his best save late in the first half when he dove to his left to deny Beverly’s Josue Reyes from in tight.
Midfielder Luke Fiedler, defender Nate Mroczek, and both Matteo Stefanelli and David Palmer off the bench drew praise from Scarpaci for their importance contributions.
“It takes more than 11 guys to win,” said Scarpaci, whose team hosts Bishop Fenwick Friday afternoon.
The Panthers, who take on visiting Andover High Saturday (6 p.m.) at Forti Field on Senior Night, will look to make this setback a one-game-only occurrence by getting back to basics, said de Leon.
“Good teams have bad days,” he said. “I don’t think we have to change that much from what we do; we just have to clean it up and refocus.”
Contact Phil Stacey
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