Update: Boys' Soccer: Belmont Takes Top-Ranked N. Andover To Brink Before Falling 1-0

On a cool Wednesday night, Nov. 6, the Belmont High School Boys' Soccer  Marauders entered the stadium at North Andover High School to take on the undefeated and untied Scarlett Knights, 20-0-0, top-ranked in Eastern Massachusetts and a top 30 high school team in the country, with 18 seniors on a squad that was a state semifinalist last year.

And for 79 minutes and 15 seconds, Head Coach Peter Guellnitz said his team outplay their opponents. 

Simply put, it was the best game Guellnitz had seen his team play the entire season. 

"This was better than (the 1-0 opening game victory against) Watertown (which is in the Division 3 North finals Monday), better than any game this year. There was not one lull out there," said Guellnitz to his team as they sat around him after the game.

And if only will and determination could be the factors that determined the final victors in a game, Belmont would have been declared the winners. 

"But the sport that we chose to play isn't fair," said Guellnitz. "We just couldn't put the ball in the net." 

A goal in the first 45 seconds was all hosts North Andover would need to take away a 1-0 win over Belmont in the quarterfinals of the North Division 2 sectional tournament. 

North Andover's senior forward Andrew Valdez found a seem in the normally solid Belmont back line and buried a shot by junior goalkeeper Peter Berens on the first foyer into the Belmont end for the best start a high-scoring team wants to have. 

But Belmont's backs, led by Sam Kerans, Matt Lawson and Keith Burns kept the Scarlett Knight's vaunted offense – scoring nearly four goals a game – in check for the remaining 89 minutes.

Its success was evident as it rendered North Andover's Michael Skarbelis, one of the state's most prolific goalscorer with 40 this year and who scored four in the previous tournament game, ineffective throughout the game, thanks principally to Lawson who stepped in front of numerous attempts and Kerans who twice sent the college prospect to the pitch on challenges. 

And when the Knights breached the lines, it was Berens to the defense as he made a pair of first-half spectacular saves – a hand parry of Zack Ryan's shot and a diving reach off a Valdez blast – to keep the game to a one-goal deficit. 

While the Marauders was holding up their end of the field, the offense was hampered by the early goal as North Andover pulled back an additional man to the back line to create a four-man defense. In addition, whenever Belmont broke through deep into Scarlett Knight territory, North Andover would immediately drop back two middlefielders to create a six-player defensive shell around goalie Marc Patnaude.

"You usually get punished for surrendering an early goal," said Guellnitz.

Belmont had its chances including its most promising as senior midfielder Nick Pearson clipped the post in the first 10 minutes while senior center forward Michael Chertkov kept North Andover's back line busy tracking his treks down the left side of the field. 

The second half was an up-and-down affair as Belmont pushed forward and pressed North Andover as the Scarlett Knights sought to exploit and pushing the Marauders with counters from their speedy forwards. Twice Skarbelis sped in on Berens on near breaks only for Luke Perrotta and Lawson swallow him up in the first and Berens to sweep kick the ball away in the second. 

As time winded down, Belmont's forwards including senior Andrew Strawbridge and Norman Kilavatitu along with midfielders Ben Giber and Kingston Lockwood began finding small gaps in a tiring Knight wall yet there appeared always to be one more North Andover defender waiting for the ball. 

A low shot from Strawbridge and a lopping header from Ben Lazanby – both after free kicks – were the only testers Patnaude faced in the final ten minutes. 

And when the final whistle blew, the season ended as well as the High School careers for nine Belmont seniors.

And it was time for Guellnitz to praise his upperclassmen, noting that the program won its first banner in nearly a decade – co-champions of the Middlesex League Liberty Division – and won more games (14 this season) each year since they came on board as freshmen. 

"This program has seen a lot of firsts and its not just because of the seniors but for all of the team whether you played or you didn't," he said, noting that the team lost its four games by a single goal.

"We pushed ourselves in every game," he said.

"I couldn't be prouder of you."