Kyle Garde put the ball by the Barrington keeper twice early in the game to notch Western Regionals for the Bridgetown Regional Community School boys soccer team -- and the first banner for the new school.
Middleton Regional High School hosted the two-day Regionals Oct. 21-22, with the final at Rotary Park in Middleton at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The Hawks (Bridgetown’s new team name) kept the pressure on, but Barrington hit their stride after the second Garde goal and the ball went back and forth for the rest of the game with netminders playing a big part in the close match. Bridgetown’s Andrew Long was not afraid to go out for the ball and challenge Barrington attackers.
Bridgetown made it to the championship game with a quarter-final 7-0 win over Shelburne Saturday afternoon, and a 6-2 game over New Germany on Sunday morning. Barrington defeated Central Kings on Saturday, and that put the Barons in contention with Middleton in the other semi-final Saturday morning. They edged Middleton 4-3 to meet Bridgetown in the final.
Middleton made the semi-final with a 2-0 win over Liverpool Saturday, but with the loss to Barrington met New Germany in the contest for third place, losing to the South Shore squad in a back-and-forth 5-4 game with New Germany scoring the winner with about three minutes left.
New Germany started the weekend by knocking Northeast Kings Education Centre out of the tournament Saturday afternoon.
Take It Home
“I just said go hard guys, get the ball, we want to take it home for the brand new school,” said Hawks coach Andrew Verran after the win. “First season with them, brand new school – first one for them. They were all here last year for the most part. They got beat out in a rough way, so yes, it means something to win this and bring home the first banner and host provincials.”
Two members of the Middleton Monarchs team presented the Regional banner to the Bridgetown boys. With MRHS athletic director Carla Britney congratulating both teams.
“I think the Regional was a real success,” said Britney. “There was a lot of good soccer that was played, all the teams were very strong, and good sportsmanship from the athletes in particular. It’s great to have a small community like Bridgetown take the Regional banner and be able to host a provincial D2 soccer tournament. We’re thrilled about that, and hopefully Middleton will be able to make it.”
Middleton gets to play a Provincials qualifier sometime this week that could give them a Provincials berth, said Monarchs coach Andrew Seymour. He said the team had a strong season and he sees his boys as comparable to any of the Provincials contenders.
Middleton finished regular season in first spot in the Valley division with just one loss, a close 3-2 win for Central Kings. Ironically, New Germany was the top South Shore team in regular season and the two squads met in the contest for third place.
