SALEM – Sometimes all it takes is the slimmest of margins to win in a soccer semifinal. Nothing too fancy or flashy.
The ConVal High boys did just that to send Bow home on Monday.
The fifth-seeded Falcons fought hard to equalize after conceding an early penalty kick, but they could not find a way through the Cougars at Salem High School. Top-seeded ConVal booked its ticket to the Division II boys soccer championship match for the second consecutive season with a 1-0 win.
ConVal senior goalie Anthony Guttwein played a solid game to keep the clean sheet. He’s happy to get a second shot at facing Campbell in the final.
“It’s the greatest feeling. We should’ve won it last year, I felt like. Now we get a second chance,” Guttwein said.
ConVal (14-2-2) wreaked havoc early and generated scoring opportunities from set pieces from free kicks, corners and throw-ins. The Cougars’ goal came from a small but consequential mistake off one of them.
Bow goalkeeper Ben Reardon pushed for extra space on a dangerous but controllable long throw-in from ConVal, gifting the Cougars a penalty kick 11 minutes into the game. Senior defender Logan Montano stepped up and converted with a strong right-footed shot to the left, away from the diving Reardon.
That goal would go on to seal the Cougars’ win, but not before a tireless effort by Bow (11-5-2). Senior defenders Kyle Cimis and Clayton Nadzan put in solid shifts to keep Reardon’s goal clean the rest of the game for the Falcons.
Overall, neither team generated many dangerous chances on the other’s net. Much of the game was concentrated in the midfield, with aerial duels and the winning of second balls bouncing into attacks.
ConVal, buoyed by its 14 seniors, handled the game with composure and calm. Its back line stood strong and was able to beat a smaller, younger Bow team physically with pace and strong positioning.
Bow tried to settle in for the second half and play on the ground more but was unable to consistently beat ConVal’s back line and generate forward runs to the goal. Senior striker Milo Cocola was almost always in a one-vs.-two situation going forward, while senior winger Blake Crowell fought the full 80 minutes trying to win down the right.
“We fed into trying to play the style that they do, and we let them dictate the game too much,” Bow head coach Josh Smith said.
Smith knew Bow, as with any of the other top-five seeds, had a real shot at the championship. He hopes his boys know that they can compete with the best in the division despite the loss.
Now in his third year at the helm of the program, Smith believes in the project that he’s built. Many of his seniors started when they were just sophomores, and with another big class of seniors next year, he knows the Falcons still have time to grow and come back strong.
ConVal will face No. 2 Campbell — which beat No. 3 Lebanon on penalties, 3-0, after a 1-1 draw in Monday’s other semifinal — in the final on Friday at Bill Ball Stadium in Exeter at 7:15 p.m.