MONROE, CT — As the regular season winds down Masuk High’s boys soccer team is in contention for a South-West Conference Tournament berth and earned important points in a pair of mid-October ties.
The Panthers head into Thursday’s season finale, home against top seed Bethel at 7 p.m., in eighth place.
Weston and Masuk are tied — each with three wins, three losses and five ties — and both have a chance at that last seed with Weston, also headed into a tough matchup, at No. 2 Bunnell of Stratford (6-0-4). Also in the mix is Immaculate of Danbury with 11 points and one game to play.
“We’re fighting for survival now,” said Masuk Coach Brendan Cavanaugh, who was pleased with his team’s effort in a 1-1 deadlock with visiting Newtown in the Oct. 15 Senior Night game.
Cole Rigby deposited a rebound of a shot off the post by Matt Cerrato to tie the score and that is how things ended, although the Panthers had some chances with Nick Rodrigues sending a header off the post following a Cristiano Rivera free kick.
Masuk was coming off a 6-2 win over Harding in a non-conference game on Oct. 11. A.J D’Auria scored the first goal and Kevin Carreon assisted Cole Rigby to make the score 2-0. Rigby added three more goals and D’Auria added another for the Panthers.
Masuk tied SWC foe Brookfield 1-1 on Oct. 10. Rigby found Cash Dewey for Masuk’s lone marker.
The Panthers were coming off a 3-2 loss to New Fairfield on Oct. 8. After New Fairfield opened the scoring Dewey assisted Rigby to tie the game. With 12 minutes left in the game, New Fairfield scored again to reclaim the lead.
Masuk battled back and tied things four minutes later with Rigby netting another, but the Rebels struck one more time to escape with the victory.
Panther players have earned some nice recognition this fall. Rigby, with six goals and a trio of assists in three games, is a finalist in contention to earn Connecticut Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Week accolades.
And Rivera earned Jersey Mike’s Player of the Week for the previous week of action.
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