Monroe’s 2-goal Game Propels Spartan Boys Soccer Over Minnechaug

East Longmeadow’s strong senior core showcased their chemistry in their 2-0 win on Thursday night.

This year’s captains, senior forward Michael Monroe and senior defender Josh Reilly, led the team to their second win in two days, following their 2-0 win against Easthampton on Wednesday night.

Monroe’s two goals in this game came with 4:02 left in the first half and 31:08 to go in the second half. His second goal was assisted by junior midfielder Zach Richard.

Both goals demonstrated Monroe’s skill. His first goal exhibited his out-hustling strength to put a trickler past Minnechaug’s goalkeeper Ben Wilson. The second was the result of a resilient display of body control to finish from an awkward angle.

Wilson saved 7 of  9 shots on goal, while East Longmeadow’s goalkeeper, senior AJ Morgado, saved all 9 shots he faced. 

Another key piece in East Longmeadow’s back line that contributed to their shutout win is senior defender Ben Biggins, who, along with sophomore defender Patsy D’Ascoli, had a couple of pivotal defensive plays.

With this being a fairly belligerent game, a combined 15 fouls led to opportunities for both teams inside the 20 yard line, but neither team could convert them into a goal.

A noticeable missed opportunity came from East Longmeadow’s Joe McColgan in the second half. The freshman midfielder, who had scored the previous night against Easthampton, wasn’t able to complete the set up play by senior midfielder Nick Bradley inside the 6 yard line.

This missed chance would not affect the Spartans as much as Minnechaug’s missed chances would affect them. Even with 7 corner kicks and 6 free kicks, the Falcons were unable to get on the scoreboard once.

“We made a good appearance today,” Josh Reilly said. “It’s been a fun experience trying to work with everybody on the field to find their strengths and weaknesses.”

Reilly and his fellow defender Ben Biggins, along with Monroe, have all communicated well in their respective portions of the field, solidifying their leadership skills.

“Being a role model for the younger guys and trying to put everything I can onto the field gives them something they can look up to,” Monroe said. “It’s the main goal in what I try to do every day. It’s difficult, but we work in a smaller team inside the team to take care of the rest of them.”

The transparent difficulties of stepping into their roles as leaders this season doesn’t stop at just Monroe.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s actually been tough,” Biggins said. “Acclimating to people looking to me for answers or leading not only on the field, but in school and my daily life has been tough, but I’ve enjoyed it.”

Despite their doubts about their own leadership abilities, these seniors’ skills have rubbed off on their team and made an impact on the team’s chemistry.

“During practices, outside of soccer, if you don’t bond, then you’ll never know what page the other guys are on,” Monroe said. “Playing with them makes it really hard if you have no chemistry.”

One simple, yet essential array of chemistry on the field comes from the backline of defenders and their goalkeeper. 

“The communication in the back is one of the most important aspects of soccer in general,” Biggins said.

Communication amongst not only defenders, but all players on the field, is one thing that has guided the Spartans to victory these past two games and the key to continuing their winning streak.

“We need to keep working hard at practice, building our communication skills, working as a group, and finding each other’s good spots to play off them,” Reilly said. “Just working really hard at practice every single day to build our team.”

East Longmeadow attempts to improve their win streak to 3 games on Monday night at West Springfield.