Sports: Boys’ Soccer Edge Ranked Lexington, 2-1; Girls’ Soccer Secures Playoff with Win

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For Belmont High School Head Coach Brian Bisceglia-Kane, Tuesday’s home game against Lexington High was an exciting one, but “it’s just a regular-season game.” 

But the match, played on Seniors Night at Harris Field, Oct. 21, should be placed in the “signature win” column as the Marauders struck twice early and once late to defeat the one-loss Minutemen – ranked 12th for the past two weeks in the Boston Globe poll – by a 3-2 scoreline.

The win ups the Marauders record to 11-3-2 with two games left in the season; away at Winchester on Saturday, Oct. 25 and a home game on Monday, Oct. 27 vs. non-league Pentucket.

“Under the lights, both teams wanted this and I was proud of their effort tonight. I really like how they came out with a lot of effort and athleticism against Lexington,” said Bisceglia-Kane.

“This was a good measuring stick for the playoffs. Lexington’s a [Division] 1 team and ranked and we weren’t so hopefully this helps their confidence,” he said.

After a celebration honoring the team’s seniors and before parents, family and a loud cheering section, Belmont came out like a whirlwind, out-muscled and outplayed the Minuteman which resulted in the best possible start. At the kickoff, Belmont drove the ball down the right side where leading scorer, Charlie Frigo, picked up the ball 18 meters out, pivoted that left a defenders looking and fired the ball past Minuteman’s Carter Hochman after a mere 36 seconds.

Before the rowdy fans could find their seats, Frigo netted his brace knocking in a cross from Sami Beluadi to give Belmont a 2-0 lead after only three-and-a-half minutes.

But you don’t get to 12 wins out of 14 games without being somewhat good playing the game and Lexington got its mojo going by winning the battle in the midfield by out running the Marauders to the ball and connecting on some sharp combination passing. Some slick passing in the box allowed Henry Troop to one-time the ball by Belmont goalkeeper Peter Berens with seven minutes to go in the first to leave the Minutemen trailing by one at the half.

Lexington would tie the game eight minutes into the second half as defender Alfred Joseph came up from the back to take a short pass from Lewis Mustoe and slipped the ball just under a diving Berens.

With blood in the water, the Minutemen continued its assault only to be thawed by Berens twice including a sliding block at the penalty spot.

At the 30 minute mark with a tie on the board, the game became a grind-it-out affair with much of the action taking place between the goal areas with few solid chances for either side.

Then, against the run of play, Belmont took the lead in the simplest of ways.

Senior forward Luke Gallagher outpaced the Lexington midfielder to take a long clearing pass down the right wing. He quickly passed the ball to the top of the box where a fast-closing Daron Hamparian controlled the ball and shot between the center and right backs and passing a flat-footed Hochman with 13 minutes remaining.

“Sometimes the team is so technically sound that they don’t play a little messier. That [goal] was just a vertical pass [Gallagher] won and passed to [Hamparian], a quick pass and a shot,” said Bisceglia-Kane. “Hopefully we can do this a little more because we tend to be a little too cute with the ball.”

With the exception of a pair of corner kicks which did not reach Berens, Belmont eased to the win.

“The proudest moment for me was when we were let up the lead but then responded,” said Bisceglia-Kane. 

“That’s what you will have to do. There will be moments in the regular season and, hopefully not, but most likely in the playoffs when you need to come back in a game,” he said.

“I always tell the guys they need to play for one another. If you are playing for yourself, you’re never going to be playing your hardest. But when you’re playing for each other that’s when you feel like you’re playing as a team,” said Bisceglia-Kane.

Girls’ soccer returns to playoffs with shutout over Minutemen

The members of the Belmont High Girls’ Soccer team were screaming their collective heads off as their bus passed by Harris Field as the boys’ soccer team was about to kick off with their match with Lexington.

The yelling fest – an ongoing tradition for Belmont’s girls’ squads – meant only one thing: the team had won their away match vs Lexington; and with it, a return to the post-season for the Marauders (9-5-2).

With a first-half goal by senior Sophia Eschenbach-Smith – her second important goal in three games – and the stellar work by the three back line defenders that helped goalkeeper Linda Herlihy to her seventh shutout in the 1-0 victory.

“It was a really good team win and we worked really hard,” said Eschenbach-Smith. “I hope we can keep up the momentum as we are now in the playoffs.”

Eschenbach-Smith scored Belmont’s lone goal in the Marauders’ 1-1 home tie against 15th ranked and league leader Arlington High a week earlier.

The win was payback for a 5-0 home loss to the Minutemen on Sept. 24.

“Today we came out with a real purpose. We needed the one point to get into the tournament. We talked a lot about that and the kids really worked hard and came out fired up,” said Paul Graham, the team’s long-time head coach, who missed last season’s playoffs after a two decade run.

“We played playoff soccer tonight,” said Graham, whose victory total now stands at 298.

Eschenbach Smith scored from a pass from Julia Cella after getting past a defender and burying a left foot shot 15 minutes into the game.

Then Graham allowed Herlihy and his back line to dictate the pace of the game.

“Our defense was tremendous,” said Graham, saying that freshman Natalie Marcus-Bauer, who now starts in the Marauders’ defense with senior leader center back Lucia Guzikowski and Elizabeth Ferrante, “who had her best game” and naming her the Player of the Match. 

With his two outside midfielders – Katrina Rokosz and Elizabeth Ferrante – coming back to cover the wide spaces, “we had five players taking on their two forwards.” When the Minutemen did have opportunities to score, Herlihy was there to crush those chances.

“I have to thank my defenders. They do a great job every game. If I get a shutout, it’s a team shutout,” said Herlihy.

Sports: Field Hockey’s Senior Dozen Honored at Final ‘Dry’ Home Game

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It was an extraordinary sight at Harris Field Monday night, Oct. 20.

Each of the 11 starters for the Belmont High School Field Hockey squad in its match against Woburn High was a senior, an extremely rare event ever to happen, according to Belmont Head Coach Jessica Smith, now in her 11th year coaching the Marauders.

“I had to suspend Olivia [Castagno] to do it,” said Smith of her co-captain, one of a dozen 12th graders on the field Monday.

“Hey, don’t say that!” said Castagno, who is actually injured and forced to the sidelines.

It has become a tradition for Smith to start the final home game with her seniors as part of the “Senior Night” celebration. While technically the Marauders’ actual last regular season match is Wednesday, Oct. 22 against Lexington, the weather Monday was expected to be far more accommodating then midweek when a rain front will stall over Belmont.

Running through a tunnel of sticks held up by the few remaining underclassmen before receiving a bouquet of yellow flowers from Smith and greetings from their family, are:

Bridget Treanor, Hillary Fay, Lauren Noonan, Emma Peiko, Haley Sawyer, Cara Bumcrot, Katheryn Kennedy, Beth Young, Jacqueline Hill, Kate Saylor and co-captains Suzanne Noone and Casagno.

As for the game, Noone provided three assists to lead Belmont to a 5-0 victory to give the Marauders a 10-4-1 record with two games remaining in the regular season. With a pair of wins, Belmont’s final home game could likely be a home playoff match in November.

Breast Cancer Car Wash Fundraiser This Saturday, Oct. 18

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After today’s rainstorm and all the muddy puddles your car will be splashing through, the next step will be finding a place to wash your car. In Belmont, that would be Belmont Car Wash in lovely Waverley Square.

On Saturday, Oct. 18, you can clean your vehicle while supporting Belmont High School’s service club’s fight against breast cancer.

From 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., The Belmontian Club will partner with Belmont Car Wash in its annual fundraiser for Belmont High School’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” team. The club, whose members will be out there drying vehicles, will receive all tips for the day and $1 per car for Belmont Car Wash.

The money raised goes to the American Cancer Society’s efforts for breast cancer research, prevention, education and patient outreach and support

So far this year, the team has raised approximately $6,500 for breast cancer research.

Sports: Belmont Girls’ Are Performing Just Swimmingly Poolside

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Last week, the Belmont High School Girls’ Swimming squad had an objective for each duel meet they hosted at Belmont High’s Higginbottom Pool; be competitive with Division 1 powerhouse Andover High School on Monday, find a way to swim by this year’s surprise team, Winchester High, on Wednesday and, finally, take nothing for granted from a rebuilding Reading Memorial High team on Friday.

Done, done and … done.

In the most active week of the swimming season, the Marauders showed a versatility when asked to switch strokes while several underclassmen swam into prominence against Winchester, the meet which Belmont’s long-time Head Coach Ev Crosscup had his team focus on.

“We were building for this week and I can say that so far, the team has met our expectations. I loved their resolve, they didn’t quit,” said Crosscup after Wednesday’s contest in which the Marauders defeated the Red Raiders, 91-77.

There were surprises galore against Winchester – who came into the Higginbottom having defeated perennial Middlesex League contender Reading earlier in the season – both by the matchup decisions Crosscup threw into the pool and from a trio of freshmen who rose to the occasion.

“Winchester I was worried about. They have some good swimmers so I was somewhat concerned,” he said.

With Winchester arriving with a strong group of free stylists, led by standout Kate Fosburgh, Crosscup sought to fight fire-with-fire and placed his best two swimmers – defending Div. 2 100 yard butterfly state champion Jessica Blake-West and breaststroke specialist Emily Quinn (who won a state championship with Blake-West as a member of the 200 yard medley relay) – into three free events early in the meet.

“There was a little bit of a strategy in that. Winchester has several strong distance swimmers so I wanted to match them up with [Blake-West] because I knew she could give her a good race and beat her,” Crosscup said.

“It also makes both of them stronger and have more confidence that they can swim some off events and still win meets,” he said.

For Crosscup, the strategy would play out if his juniors could gain maximum points and several young, inexperienced swimmers could match season best performances.

Trailing after the first event, the 200 medley – despite having the lower time, the referees gave Winchester first place via a “judges decision” – Blake-West went right back to the blocks for the 200 free and won by seven seconds (2:02.09) with Maya Nagashima easily taking third (2:12.66).

Next was Quinn who also won with ease, taking first in the 200 individual medley (2:24.19). Belmont took third and fourth with Elizabeth Levy (2:30.62) and Molly Thomas (2:32.41) to win the event, 11-5, and lead the Red Raiders, 27-19.

Fosburgh showed her strength in the 50 free (1st in 26.96) to inch the Red Raiders closer to their hosts, 33-29.

But Winchester never got closer as Eunice Lee took Blake-West’s place in the 100 butterfly and won going away (1:07.43) with the first of the freshmen, Julia Bozkurtian, taking a strong second (1:09.38).

While Fosburgh took her specialty winning the 100 free, Quinn cracked the minute mark finishing second with frosh sprinter Ophelle Loblack coming in for a solid third (1:00.50) as Belmont split the points, 8 to 8.

Blake-West won the 500 free with clear water, swimming an impressive 5:28.31 (that would have taken fourth place in the state championships). But it was the Marauders’ third swimmer, freshman Caroline Daskalakis, who stole the show, taking on Winchester’s Vanessa Asaro – both swimmers breathing so they could stare down the other – for 300 yards before putting it into another gear to take a vital fourth place in 6:14.15, one place behind Thomas (6:09.00).

With the first, third and fourth place finishes in the 500, Belmont took a 64-46 point lead. While Winchester took first in the 200 free relay and 100 backstroke, Belmont would capture the next three places to keep its 18 point lead.

And when Maya Nagashima and Klaudia Nagrabska went 1,2 in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.78 and 1:18.04), it was all over but the shouting.

While praising his two juniors for providing the winning edge in the meet, Crosscup was ecstatic about the 9th graders response to their first “big” meet.

“We have some great freshmen but you never know how they will do. [Bozkurtian] showed up and swam well. Loblack is good and is getting even better. And [Daskalakis] is a battler and I couldn’t be more pleased with her effort. It could have been so easy, neck to neck, just to back off. She just broke the other girl’s back,” said Crosscup.

On Monday, Belmont would see Andover – which finished second in last year’s Div. 1 state championships – sweep the freestyle events to take an easy 101-79 victory. The highlight was junior Cynthia Kelsey breaking her school one-meter diving record with six dives totaling 276.70 points.

On Friday against Reading Memorial, Crosscup placed Blake-West in the 50 free and she blister a 25.34 to win while Shephanie Zhang took the 200 IM in 2:34.54, winning by .06 seconds.

Sports: Barn Doors Safe as Belmont Soccer Teams Lost Scoring Touch

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Barn doors, fish in barrels and messengers were all safe this past week as Belmont High School soccer teams suddenly lost their ability to put shots into the back of the net.

On Thursday evening , Oct. 9, Belmont Boys’ soccer dominated stretches of their game against Wakefield High under the lights at Harris Field but couldn’t find the right combination of passes to break the Red Raider defense and were forced to split the difference with a nil-nil draw.

But despite the current goal-scoring drought – the Marauders put the ball between the posts only three times in the past five games posting a record of 2-2-1 during that time – Belmont Boys’ first-year head coach gave an upbeat observation after the tie.

“Sometimes you have to taper your expectations because we’re playing well,” said Brian Bisceglia-Kane, noting that the team has outplayed their two latest opponents by wide margins.

“They’re feeling down because they dominated the game but honestly, they created enough scoring opportunities and that’s our game plan. I wouldn’t do much different then what we just did,” he said.

Bisceglia-Kane said the solution to the team’s lack of scoring punch is “being more intuitive to where you should be.”

While the team has had plenty of scoring opportunities in the past five games, “we didn’t play the ball necessarily the way we practice. Then there is a lack of composure, feeling that urgency to score and then there is just having some luck.”

At the beginning of the season, the Marauders was winning games scoring three to four goals, “and we aren’t playing any differently now,” Bisceglia-Kane said. 

“The goals will come,” he said.

Earlier in the afternoon, Belmont Girls’ soccer also found trouble scoring, but unlike the boys’, Head Coach Paul Graham’s squad fell to hosts Wakefield, 4-1, in what Graham called “our poorest performance of the season.”

Like the Boys’, the Belmont Girls’ have scored three goals in the past five games, going 1-3-1 over the stretch.

“We didn’t win or go to the ball; we didn’t have the effort that we need to do win,” said Graham. Down 1-0, junior Kristin Gay took a pretty pass from sophomore forward Julia Cella and belt an 18 meter shot by the Red Raider goalkeeper, who Graham praised for making “three or four great saves that could have gotten us closer.”

Graham took time to point out the play of Alex Dionne and Lucia Guzikowski and the contribution of senior Maggie Shea in the nets for the final moments of the game. 

Tickets on Sale for Annual Broadway Night at Belmont High, Oct 17,18

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Who needs to travel 200 miles to New York when Broadway comes to Belmont next weekend?

Broadway Night 2014, the annual musical theater cabaret featuring the talents of the students of the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company, will raise the curtain on two shows, Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater at Belmont High School.

The show, which includes solos, duets, and full company numbers, has become a wonderful tradition that opens the PAC season each year.

But get your tickets now since it has become a tradition for both shows to be sold out.

Tickets are $5 students, $12 adults. Chenery Middle School 8th graders get a free ticket at the door the night of the show. Belmont School Staff get a free ticket by e-mailing tickets@bhs-pac.org 

Advance tickets on sale at Champions Sporting Goods starting Friday, Oct 10 and at the high school the week of the show during lunch mods.

Sports: Early (Playoff) Decision for Volleyball, Field Hockey

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It was a wonderful Wednesday for the Belmont High School Field Hockey and Volleyball squads both secured a place in the post season with wins on Oct. 9.

Continuing their best season in the sports history, Marauder volleyball came back from a two-to-one set deficit to defeat host Burlington High School 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17, 15-11).

Belmont Head Coach Jen Couture’s team now stands at 10-3, matching last year’s win total with seven games remaining in the season. 

On Harris Field, the field hockey team scored four times in the final 10 minutes of the game to defeat Wakefield High School 5-0 to raise its record to 8-3-1.

“Every game after this one matters big time. It decides whether we have a home seed in the playoffs or we end up playing at Acton/Boxborough,” said Belmont Head Coach Jessica Smith.

Wednesday’s win saw Belmont continue their strong scoring rate – the Marauders’ 4.1 goal per game average is one of the best in Eastern Massachusetts, only trailing powerhouses such as Andover (4.6), Acton/Boxborough (4.8) and Watertown (5.2) – with senior forward Haley Sawyer who scored a hat trick.

“A lot of the time Annie [sophomore midfielder Annmarie Habelow] brought it down the field and I was waiting at the corner and I just there,” Sawyer said.

“We really work well together as a team. They were all team goals,” said Sawyer.

Belmont took a while to get their overall play up to speed, finally taking the lead with eight minutes left in the first half when Sawyer jammed in an initial shot from Olivia Castagno. 

Wakefield started the second half on the front foot, winning two penalty corners and putting a pair of shots on Marauders goalie Kate Saylor. But hard work by Lauren Noonan, playing her best game this season, tracked down numerous Red Raider runners and clogging down passing lanes.

Belmont finally showed its best in the final half of the second, first nearly scoring off four perfectly executed middle-of -the-pitch passes before an infraction was called. The Marauders doubled its lead by a solo effort from Habelow who passes three Red Raiders before hitting a 15 meter backhand slap shot by the Wakefield goalie.

Sawyer got her final two goals, with assists from Habelow and Kate McCarthy, before senior midfielder Suzanne Noone finished the scoring by weaving through defense before firing a shot into the back of the net.

Smith also pointed out Julia Chase for her outstanding play along the wings – “She should have had five assets. What a great game.”

Next up for Belmont is taking on league leader Reading (who beat the Marauders, 4-0, earlier in the season) who comes to Harris Field at 3:30 p.m.

 

 

Sports: Brams’ Win Streak Ends; Volleyball on the Verge; Boys’, Girls’ Soccer Take Ones, Field Hockey Blows by Red Devils

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Psst, Andrew MacDougall of the Boston Globe: The name’s Brams, Leah Brams. 

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In MacDougall’s logy write up of the cross girls’ country duel meet between Belmont High School and host Woburn High on Tuesday, Oct. 7, the correspondent described Brams as “a runner from Belmont” battling with Tanner’s star senior harrier Gina D’Addario “as the two entered the final 300-meter straightaway” of the race.

It took D’Addario breaking a quarter-century Woburn course record for her to defeat Brams – who came within one second of breaking the record herself – for the first time in three years and for anyone to defeat the Belmont runner since she first started racing for the Marauders. That “runner from Belmont” was undefeated for nearly three seasons and is now 4-1 head-to-head against the Woburn senior.

It was a long shot that Brams could go four years undefeated in Middlesex League competition and it took a record breaking effort to do so as the Tanners – which ran five top seniors against Belmont’s quartet of juniors and a freshman – defeated the Marauders, 20-41.

Brams will defend her two-time Middlesex League title against D’Addario later this month.

The boy harriers matched up better against Woburn, only falling by 25-31.

Volleyball on the verge of post season

Belmont High School’s Volleyball season could reach a milestone tonight, Wednesday, Oct. 8 against host Burlington. A win this afternoon over the Red Devils will send the Marauders (9-3, 8-2) into the post season as they will reach the 10-win mark.

Belmont has won their last two matches, at home vs. Winchester, 3-1, on Thursday, Oct. 2 and away, 3-0, against Wilmington on Monday, Oct. 6.

 

Soccer each pick up close shut out wins

Despite throwing everything at the Burlington High School Girls’ Soccer team – including playing nearly each and every player he had on the bench – it took a funky sort of goal for host Belmont (7-3-1) to come away with a 1-0 shutout against the Red Devils at Harris Field on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

Belmont’s junior forward Kristin Gay got a foot on the ball just inside the left post and slotted it into the back of the net after only 13 minutes of play in the first half to give the Marauders the only goal needed as the defense – seniors Lucia Guzikowski and Lizzy Ferrante, and freshman Natilie Marcus-Bauer held Burlington to a couple of shots on goal – and midfielders Ava Colasin and Alex Dionne controlled the Red Devils and prevented them from racing onto long passes. Guzikowski nearly double the margin six minutes later hitting the crossbar from distances.

“Another game that a complete team win as all players on team played very well,” said Belmont Head Coach Paul Graham who is inching towards his 300th career coaching win. 

After losing two matches in a row – overmatched at home by Winchester, 2-0, on Sept. 30 and downed 1-0 to host Wilmington Oct. 2 – the Belmont Boys’ Soccer team got back in the winning column with a 1-0 victory over Burlington High in Burlington. Belmont now stands at 8-3-0, just two victories from the post season.

Field Hockey takes out frustrations on Red Devils

After tying Wilmington, 1-1, on Oct. 1 and then losing to non-conference power Concord-Carlisle Regional, 2-0, the next day, the Belmont High School Field Hockey (7-3-1) team took out their frustrations on host Burlington in racking up a 9-2 victory Monday night, Oct. 6.

While admitting that the Wilmington game was “not our best,” Belmont’s Head Coach Jessica Smith said the team played well against a power team from Concord.

“I like scheduling games against strong teams because it challenges us, especially with the playoffs starting in just a few weeks,” said Smith on Wednesday.

The team plays Wakefield on Wednesday, Oct. 8 before a rematch against one loss Reading on Harris Field Friday afternoon, Oct. 10.

Sports: Belmont Football’s First Home Game A Start In the Right Direction

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The contest between Belmont High School and Arlington was never in doubt.

The Spy Ponders came into Belmont’s Harris Field on Thursday night, Oct. 2, riding an impressive 3-0 start to the season, dusting off with ease three established programs while the host Marauders had taken a series of lumps since opening the 2014 campaign four weeks ago.

But a participant at the game said before the teams came out onto the field for Belmont’s first home game on the new Harris turf field – along with the White Field House were renovated over the summer – that the game’s outcome was irrelevant to its purpose.

“The score means nothing because this game marks the start of a new time for Belmont [football],” he said.

With a new energetic head coach, Yann Kumin, and his young brain trust, an invigorated boosters program, a newly-established Middle School football team and the new infrastructure in place, a renewed sense of enthusiasm and optimism has taken hold around the Belmont football program which 50 years ago in November won their last state championship.

“We are really moving in the right direction. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I’m a pretty honest guy and if I think were taking a step backward I’m gonna say it. But I don’t see that,” said Kumin.

And members of that last championship team – all grey, many retired – led out the squad onto the field. A piper heralded the players – wearing new spiffy camouflage jerseys – onto the south end zone where they huddled and entered their home field for the first time.

In the game, which ended 49-13, Belmont was outmatched by a disciplined Arlington squad that ran through the middle of the Marauders defensive line seemingly at will. On the other side of the ball, Belmont could not get the offense running effectively against a strong SpyPonder defense.

“Obviously, defensively we just have to keep learning and keep growing and as coaches we have to figure out what we need to do a better job,” said Kumin.

“[Arlington Head Coach John] Dubs [Dubzinski] has done a great job over there. He’s done what we’re trying to do here,” said Kumin, referring to Dubzinski’s reconstruction of the Arlington program in four years from the 3-8 team to co-champions with Reading in 2013.

“I have so much respect for their program and their kids. You can tell they are a discipline and classy program,” he said.

Marauder highlights included a pair of long touchdown passes from sophomore QB Chris Christofori to lanky junior WR Justin Wagner, the last TD scored in the final 10 seconds, a several inspired runs by talented running back Michel Johnson.

“It sounds counterintuitive after letting up 41 points in the first half and that’s not what we’re trying to do as a team but I am so proud of this team because there is such a sense of family and togetherness,” Kumin told the Belmontonian.

The problem isn’t that his loss hurt. The problem would have been if it didn’t hurt and they didn’t want to come back on Friday and Saturday to work and continue to grow as a program,” he said.

After the end of the game, Kamin told the team he appreciated the effort each team member has made in the seven weeks since the new Belmont football program began.

“You worked hard for four quarters today. We depended on each other. I am humbled by your work,” said Kamin, adding that when the team wins a Middlesex League title at some future date, he wanted to see the present day seniors, “Max, Mugsy, D Chen, J Paul, Price, Omar on that day and tell you what you started to build, the seed that you planted for this program is growing into something big.”

“If you guys can show the same discipline, focus and heart and pride and energy for the rest of your life that you showed for Marauder football, then I’ll put my head down on the pillow tonight and I’m going to sleep great because you’ll be men I can be proud of.”

Sports: Blown Call Forces Belmont Girls’ Soccer Tie With Wilmington; See For Yourself

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“Every picture tells a story,” wrote Anastasia Hollings. “But sometimes it’s hard to know what story is actually being told.”

But for the Belmont High School Girls’ Soccer team, a picture – two photographs, exactly – clearly shows what occurred at the crucial moment in their match with Wilmington High School on Wednesday night, Oct. 1, at Harris Field.

The resulting story was easy to tell; a home win was transformed into a tie all for the want of an obvious call.

Midway through the second half, with Belmont holding a 1-0 lead in a give-no-prisoners contest, the Wildcats were preparing for a free kick in the Marauders end. In the second before the kick was taken, the entire Belmont back line took several steps upfield in what appeared to be a successful use of the offsides trap, in which a player is an offside position if she is between the last defender and the opposing goal.

In two photographs taken by The Belmontonian, a pair of Wilmington players can be seen running towards Belmont’s goalkeeper Linda Herlihy – one five meters clear of Belmont’s back line – while a third is partially seen trying desperately to race back to be level with the last Marauder defender. The timing of the kick can be seen as the three Belmont players in a defensive “wall” had not yet jumped in an attempt to deflect the ball.

When the ball descended onto the feet of one of the two Wilmington players inside the box, Herlihy, the Belmont defenders and a few Wilmington players were waiting for the referee on the far side of the field to call the play dead.

Just one thing; there would be no whistle. To the referee, a Belmont player – he would later claim “21 or 20” was between the two Wildcat attackers and the goal. The two photographs fail to show such an infraction.

As a result, three Wilmington players were left in front of Herlihy with the ball. Yet the Wilmington player nearest the ball hesitated, looking quickly at the referee as the entire pitch were calling for offsides. In fact, a third Wildcat player ran over to the ball to take possession. When a shot finally came, Herlihy dove and got a hand on the ball heading to her right and palmed it just wide of the post and out of bounds.

But in the subsequent corner kick, a clever tip by a Wildcat player sent the ball low between Herlihy and the near post to tie the match at 1-1 at the 23 minutes mark.

None of the aforementioned events sat well with the Belmont players or Head Coach Paul Graham. The long-time leader would not discuss the apparent offsides play other then to say “we all saw what happened; the ref blew it big time.”

The controversial call – under MIAA rules, a game decision by a referee can not be reversed – placed a damper on Belmont’s overall outstanding play including a certain goal-of-the-year candidate from junior midfielder Katrina Rokosz  who placed a free kick cannon shot into the back of Wilmington’s net from 32 meters. The blast was only the fourth goal given up by Wilmington this season.

“[Rokosz] is getting better and better each game. She can really hit the ball,” said Graham, whose team reaches the midpoint of the season at 6-3-1.

Graham pointed out his back line defense, seniors Lucia Guzikowski and Elizabeth Ferrante and freshman Natalie Marcus-Bauer for praise; “they didn’t give up a lot of shots, just a few mistakes. When you hold a team like that scoreless, we did a great job.” In addition, the center halts, Alex Dionne and Ava Colasin “won a ton of 50/50 balls” which put Belmont on the right foot throughout the game.

While saying he’ll take the start the team has had this year, Graham also believes the team is round out for the final stretch with the chance of having a few players currently not playing back in the lineup.

“I see us being really solid come the playoffs,” he said.