HADLEY — With the postseason approaching, every win is critical for teams on the bubble of making it into the Western Mass. tournament. 

The Athol and PVCICS boys soccer teams entered Thursday’s showdown both on the outside looking in, and after a 1-0 Dragon win the first time around, both teams knew earning a win would be critical to reaching the playoffs. 

Tied 1-1 at the half, it was PVCICS who took over in the final 40 minutes of action. The Dragons tallied twice in the second half to pull away with a 3-1 win at Young Men’s Club of Hadley. 

“We’re fighting for our life in the Western Mass. tournament,” PVCICS coach Michael Locker said. “Right now, we’re on the outside looking in. We have to convert on every game we have. We only beat these guys 1-0 the first time so it was nice to get a two-goal margin of victory. Next week we have three more games against teams we’ve played before and I want to see improvement the second time around.” 

After reaching the state tournament a season ago, Athol graduated a good chunk of players and is going through the rebuilding process this year. 

While their record isn’t where they’d want it to be, the Bears (2-11) have been competitive throughout as seven of those losses have been by two goals or less. 

“All our games are close, they just aren’t going our way,” Athol coach Justin Brown said. “Whether it’s one bounce, one silly mistake, it’s just not going our way. Every game is a few mistakes and they add up. It’s frustrating.

“We’re 2-11 but our worst loss is 5-1,” Brown added. “We’re in the majority of games, we’re just on the wrong side of them. We just have to push a little harder these last three games.” 

The Dragons (6-1-3) took the early lead on Thursday. Teddy Scott dribbled the ball into the box and slid a pass across the goal to Nolan Gage, who was there to tap it home and give PVCICS a 1-0 lead just 13 minutes into the contest. 

Athol struck back later in the half. After earning a corner, Brent Boudreau sent it into the box where Seidou skied above the Dragon defenders to head the ball home, knotting the game at one in the 27th minute. That score held until the halftime whistle. 

The chances slowed up for the Bears from that point on, as the PVCICS defense did its job to prevent scoring opportunities. 

“The first part of the first half it was pretty even and back-and-forth,” Locker said. “Then we began to assert ourselves a bit more and pass a bit better. Whether it was our play or them getting tired, they weren’t generating as many chances. That was nice.”

The Dragons struck early in the second half. 

Just one minute after the intermission, Kai Petit-Darling got the ball on the Athol side of the field and slipped a pass through the Bear defense to Scott. 

With a head of steam, Scott corralled the ball and drilled a shot that bounced off the post and in, giving PVCICS the lead. 

“That boosted the confidence of the team,” Locker said. “They started playing better after that.” 

The Dragons added an the 54th minute. Rafi Razmi made a great pass to Patrick Canivan Gosselin, who made a dribble and slipped it past Athol keeper Drake Wing to make it a 3-1 lead, a score that stood to the final whistle. 

With three games to go in the regular season, Brown said he’s hoping to see progress in the final games of the year. 

“It’s a newer team,” Brown said. “We lost about nine guys. We’re building and coming into our own but everybody else is improving an at a faster rate. We have to hang in there. We have two wins but we need to come out with a few more here before the end of the season. Hopefully we can get some wins or ties to close this out.”