YELLOW JACKETS CRUISE BY FAIR HAVEN, ADVANCE TO QUARTERFINAL ROUND
By Landon Potvin
County Courier
MILTON: Aidan Garrow and Cam Fougere combined for four of the team’s seven goals as the team shut out the Slaters 7-0, in the opening round of the Division II Boys Soccer Playoffs between the top-seeded Yellow Jackets and the 16th seed from Fair Haven.
Milton’s scoring barrage began early, with only seven minutes having ticked off the clock, Brandon Mitchell connected with his head on a throw-in ball from Ryan Cannon, who can throw a ball 45 yards. Mitchell used the back of his head and put the ball in the bottom right of the net.
“I am pretty consistent in the gym,” said Cannon. “I’ve got the technique down when I was nine or ten, and I have built off it since then.”
Fougere threw a ball setup Button nicely, and the Slater’s goalie made an outstanding save. However off the deflection, Garrow was in the right place at the right time and tapped it in to increase the lead to 2-0. Fougere tacked on another for Milton to push the lead to 3-0 minutes later.
PHOTO GALLERY: MILTON VS FAIR HAVEN
Deep in the corner, Nathaniel St. Amour nailed a high fly ball, up and over the defense for Fougere to head it in just high enough to cruise over the keeper’s glove.
The Milton defense held Fair Haven to just four shots on goal for the night, leading to the shutout win for the Braeden Caradher.
Fair Haven’s goalie made an excellent effort on the other side. Even though he was facing Milton’s high-powered offense, he totaled 13 saves off Milton’s 20 shots on goal, and with 12 minutes left in the half, he dove and stopped a score. A few minutes passed, and Mitchell saved a ball that was going to go out of bounds and, with Milton’s high-level passing IQ, made it through the defense, and Ethan Jones made a solid pass to Zach Logan, and he chipped one over the goalie.
Milton scored their final goal of the first half with a minute and thirty seconds left, and for the past three minutes, one could feel Milton putting the pressure on. Cannon had another throw-in, found Fougere for his second goal to give Milton a 5-0 lead at halftime.
“It’s a weapon,” said Milton’s head coach Glen Button. “A lot of teams don’t have that luxury, and that last couple of weeks, we have been able to finish off those chances. These guys have played soccer together for a long time, and that helps. They want to get it done this year, so taking advantage of those set pieces.”
The Yellow Jackets started the second half the same way they ended the first- Logan gave Jones a lead pass that he took advantage of and found the back of the net to bring the lead to 6-0. It wasn’t much longer when Garrow scored his second goal of the game. Riley Zeno found his rhythm in the second half, launched a ball that bounced off the crossbar. Garrow found himself in the right spot again and expanded the lead to seven with 20 minutes to play
“In practice, we work on crashing the net,” said Garrow. “That’s what I did. I crashed the net after a shot and hope the goalkeeper bobbles it.”
“When we are going well, Riley is getting forward and getting in the attack,” said coach Button. “He’s fun to watch, and he’s quick, tough, but a simple and effective player.” For the ninth time this season, Milton has held a team to zero goals. Ryan Cannon and Aiden Garrow expand on what it’s like to do so.
“We have really good cover, structure, and organization,” said Cannon. “That’s what we work on a lot in practice with back movement and communication. As long as we don’t give up space, we are pretty good.”
“It gives us so much confidence going into the next one,” said Garrow. “It gives us a boost in practice as well; the energy is high, and it’s super fun.”
Milton is slated to host Paine Mountain, a co-op team from Williamstown and Northfield. That game will kick off at 11 am on Saturday in Milton.
