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WESTBOROUGH, Mass. — Mia Natale's shot flew over the crossbar, and the Westborough Rangers' comeback fell just short, in a 2-1 loss to Wachusett.
It was the second straight 2-1 loss for the Rangers.
"I think we have a very confident attacking team. We're just not able to put the ball in the goal," coach Paul Mumby said. "We got a goal disallowed in the first minute of the second half. That would've changed the game completely."
The Rangers dominated the ball for most of the game, but two breakaway goals were all Wachusett would need. About halfway through the first half, Joanna Roberts put a pass from Annie Graham in the back of the net for Wachusett. At the end of the first half, Mumby was telling his players if they could score they would be back in charge. Catherine Elkas flipped the script, scoring an unassisted breakaway goal to give Wachusett a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Elkas' goal, which would be the difference in the game, was the first of the freshman midfielder's high school career.
"We were pushing for the goal and they caught us on the counterattack," Mumby said.
The Rangers would push and hold Wachusett scoreless for the rest of the game, and Mia Natale forced a penalty kick just eight minutes into the second half. She knocked the ball to the left of the goalkeeper and Westborough had all of the momentum.
Multiple breakaways were negated by offsides calls, and Natale, Ashley Butler and Janet Koury all missed scoring chances. At the end of the day, the Rangers fell just short.
"You've got to be careful they don't get in the mindset of 'We can't score,'" Mumby said. "We'll try to get back on track at practice tomorrow with shooting drills."
Westborough girls soccer will play Friday against Holy Name at 4 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
Westborough 2, Wachusett 1: Behind Brendan Goodliffe's third goal in three games, Westborough Rangers boys soccer was able to come from behind and match last year's win total in the season's third game.
"As I say, we just go in with an attacking intent and they really did that in the second half," coach Michael Griffin said.
At halftime, the Rangers were down 1-0, but Goodliffe's goal tied the score, and Steven Frame was able to put the Rangers on top for good.
Westborough will next play at Shrewsbury on Tuesday.
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