Northwestern boys soccer takes big step toward Berkshire League title with win over Nonnewaug

WOODBURY - The last time Northwestern won a Berkshire League title in boys soccer was in 2007, when gasoline was cheap and telephones plugged into the wall. (Google it, kids; it's true.)

"Well, we're going to change that," promised senior Cal Young after scoring the winning goal late in Tuesday's 2-1 showdown victory over Nonnewaug. "We're coming for it."

Certainly, the Highlanders, none of whom were born the last time the red and gray hung a BL soccer banner, took a huge step toward their goal while also getting revenge for a 1-0 loss to the Chiefs earlier this season.

At 11-1, Northwestern owns a one-game edge in the loss column on Nonnewaug (10-2) and Shepaug (9-2) with four games remaining on its schedule.

"It puts us in the driver's seat to win the league, which we haven't done since '07. We've been second. We've been third. We're always right there, but we just haven't gotten it done since (2007)," said Highlanders coach Andy Campbell, in his 24th season.

When it increasingly looked like overtime was inevitable Tuesday, Young got it done for Northwestern. From the left corner, Easton Combes sent a cross into the box, where the ball glanced off teammate Lincoln Ouellette to Young, who planted it in the net with 4:40 left to play.

"I hit it with my left foot as best I could and placed it bottom left," Young said. "That's about as good as I could get."

While Northwestern has enjoyed large advantages in shots on goal and time of possession in both contests with Nonnewaug this season, the two teams are dead even on the cumulative scoreboard after 160 minutes. Only a loss to Lakeview has the Chiefs a game behind.

"I'm not surprised it was a tight, competitive game. It's two good teams," said Nonnewaug coach Toby Denman. "They just finished one more than we did."

The Chiefs jumped on top less than eight minutes into the game when Vincenzo Rose made a run down the left wing and centered to Maxim Dmitriyev, who knocked the ball past Northwestern keeper Lucas Horstman (seven saves) for a 1-0 lead.

There was no panic among the Highlanders, according to Combes. Their reaction, he said, was to "keep our heads up, keep going hard, look to attack, stay tight."

Just over a minute later, Northwestern's Cohen D'Amore lofted a cross-field pass to Combes, who deked out a defender before drilling a left-footed shot from 10 yards out past Nonnewaug keeper Rolf Brindle (13 saves) to tie the score.

Northwestern's work isn't done yet. The final four games include trips to Lakeview and Shepaug - a pair of one-goal wins the first time around. "This gives us even more momentum," Combes said. "We're going to carry this on and keep winning."

Nonnewaug, meanwhile, has only one upper-division team left in its final four - a game at Shepaug.

"We still have league title aspirations, but it's not in our control," Denman said. "So our job is to make life difficult for people and do our best and hope we get help."

This article originally published at Northwestern boys soccer takes big step toward Berkshire League title with win over Nonnewaug.