After an outstanding regular season that saw the Billerica High boys soccer team finish with an overall record of 11-2-5, the Indians hosted a Div. 2 first-round state tournament game on Nov. 5.
BMHS ended up with an unlucky draw as a solid Nauset team eliminated the Indians, 2-1.
All of the scoring occurred in the first half as the visitors scored the first two goals before Billerica converted with 3:45 left before intermission.
The second half was loaded with scoring chances for both teams, but Nauset would hang on for the victory.
Just two minutes into the match, BMHS nearly took a 1-0 lead as a pass from senior Erik Villafuerte to sophomore Ryan Jacob saw Jacob’s shot from 20 yards out hit the crossbar.
Nauset took the lead a few minutes later when senior Grayson Farber finished a pass from senior Ario Haughton-Lawless.
The Indians had two more good chances in an effort to tie the score.
Sophomore Ethan Melandes missed high with a shot and a passing play that went from Jacob to sophomore Jason Xintaropoulos to senior Tallal Ghazal resulted in Ghazal’s shot sailing high by inches.
With 13 minutes left in the half, Nauset scored again when Haughton-Lawless finished a feed from senior Nathan Watring.
The Indians made it 2-1 when senior John Aguilar scored on a penalty kick.
Nauset (14-5-1), seeded 22nd in Div. 2, lost to Melrose by a 1-0 score in its next match. Melrose eventually lost to Bedford by a 1-0 score in the round of eight.
The 11th-seeded Indians had a solid end to the season highlighted by a defense that was the team’s strong suit throughout the fall.
In a 0-0 tie with Wilmington, senior standout goalkeeper Riwaj Singh have five stops.
BMHS beat Lawrence by a 4-1 score with tallies from Jacob, junior Brian Jones, sophomore Jason Xintaropoulos and senior Nick Magliozzi. Aguilar had an assist and Villafuerte had two assists.
Sophomore goalie Riley Donovan had eight saves in the victory.
In a 3-0 win against Westford Academy, Jacob had a goal while the other two tallies went to senior Nic Xintaropoulos and Jason Xintaropoulos. Jacob and Jones had assists in the victory and Singh earned the shutout in goal.
A 4-0 triumph over Methuen, Singh chalked up another assist. Billerca had four different goal scorers including Jacob, Jones, Villafuerte and Aguilar. Earning assists were Ghazal, Jones, Villafuerte and Jason Xintaropoulos.
In a 3-0 win over Dracut, Villafuerte had a hat trick of sorts, collecting all three assists on goals by Jason Xintaropoulos, Jacob and freshman Dylan Gray.
Singh and Donovan shared the shutout in a 4-0 win over Haverhill.
Jones, Jacob, Jason Xintaropoulos and Nic Xintaropoulos had the goals for BMHS.
The Indians had only two regular-season losses, a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Central Catholic and a 4-1 loss to Chelmsford.
