SHARON, Vt. - Sharon boys soccer opened its playoff run in style, rolling past Blue Mountain 5-0 at home Wednesday afternoon in the first round.
N. Malloy scored twice, S. Staff set up two goals and keeper C. Keep made three saves to finish off the shutout. The fourth-seeded Phoenix led 2-0 at halftime and pulled away with three more goals in the second half against the 13th-seeded Bucks.
Lopsided scores have been a habit for Sharon this fall. Wednesday was the Phoenix’s seventh win of the season by three goals or more, a list that includes a 7-1 win at Leland & Gray on Sept. 26 and 6-0 wins over Grace Christian on Sept. 18 and Mount St. Joseph on Oct. 5. Sharon also beat Rivendell twice, 5-1 and 6-3.
The Phoenix improve to 10-2-2, already two more wins than last season’s 8-5-1 team, which lost in the quarterfinals. Blue Mountain finishes 0-15.
Coach Grayson Levy said before the season, “We know the level we have to reach and the hard work we have to put in to reach those levels. We will continue to build on the last few years, and the team is ready to work hard to achieve our goals.”
Next comes a rematch with a score to settle. Fifth-seeded Arlington tied Sharon 1-1 on Sept. 24 and handed the Phoenix a 2-3 loss in Sharon on Oct. 16. Arlington beat Richford 3-0 on Wednesday to set up the quarterfinal.
Sharon boys soccer is next at home against fifth-seeded Arlington in the quarterfinals on Saturday, October 24, at 2 p.m.
Other relevant play on Wednesday, October 21:
Richford (2-11-1) 0 at Arlington (11-3-1) 3 Arlington, Sharon’s quarterfinal opponent, advanced at home.
Grace Christian (4-11) 0 at Leland & Gray (9-5-1) 3 Leland & Gray, which Sharon beat 7-1 in September, moved on behind two goals from Spencer Claussen.
That wraps up the day for The Sharon Academy sports. We’ll see you next time!