Berwick Beats Bancroft

The Berwick Academy Boys Varsity Soccer Team beat Bancroft 4-1 on a soggy Wednesday afternoon in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Maine Bulldogs carried most of the play on the afternoon, bouncing back from a tough loss four days ago, with quick passing and stifling defense. Bancroft played hard and tough, forcing Berwick to keep the ball clean and their marks tight. Berwick announced its intentions early in the match when barely five minutes after the opening kickoff, Nate Nigrin earned a direct kick from the corner after making a hard overlapping run when was taken down on the end line. Captain Ryan Trotzky stepped up and nailed a perfect bender to the six yard line, where striker Paddy Condon nailed it home with his head to open the scoring on the day. The same duo combined on a nice play in the 18^th minute when Condon sent Trotzky to the end line, and he turned it neatly and put a left footer on net, forcing Bancroft keeper Daniel Freedman to make a good save. The Maine Bulldogs poured it on from there, putting the Massachusetts Bulldogs under a relentless attack until the halftime whistle sounded. A short minute after Trotzky’s try, Condon had his own when he found space 30 yards out, moved vertically and hit a laser that Freedman did well to gather. In the 21^st minute, Nigrin again advanced and hit a beautiful cross to midfielder Alex Penfold who put a point blank drive onto Freedman, who was forced to make his nicest save of the day and keep the score close. A minute later, Trotzky found daylight in the box and hit an 18 yard shot that Freedman again needed to work for. In the next moment, Condon fed midfielder Mitchel Varley a perfectly weighted through ball, which Varley struck well, only to have Freedman dive to his right for another good stop, keeping the score close, which is how the first frame ended.

The second half was a mirror of the first, but Berwick simply wore down Bancroft. As in the opening session, the Maine Bulldogs struck early when Trotzky sent midfielder Hayden McGovern down the right flank. McGovern played a nifty ball inside to midfielder Crosby Smith, who gathered the ball at the top of the box, jogged to his right looking for daylight on net and drew the defense along with him. Smith turned and fed an open Varley front and center, 15 yards out, and the crafty sophomore knew what to do from there, planting the second goal of the game into the side netting, doubling the Berwick lead. In the 50^th minute, Trotzky—who was involved in all of the offense today—took a set piece from the end line again, and again put a sweet ball that nearly went in directly to the upper 90. Lanky striker Dylan Mitchel got his head on it and it nearly went in from there, but Mason Alderson had to tidy things up by nudging the ball over the line for his first Berwick goal. Ten minutes later, Alderson had another chance from close range, but that ball sailed over. In the 65^th minute, Bancroft earned a penalty kick from the spot which Chris Sholla converted, bringing the Bulldogs back within two. In the 76^th minute, striker Sam Gustafson put fellow striker Nick Marino in on net, and Marino just missed converting wide left. With just over two minutes left in the contest, Trotzky again had an impact when another dangerous set piece clanged off a defender and into the Bancroft goal, rounding out the scoring on the day.

Berwick is 5-2-1 on the season and welcomes Dexter-Southfield to Maine on Friday afternoon.