Monomoy Boys Soccer Advances To State Semifinals For First Time In School History

COHASSET – The Sharks are in uncharted territory.

For the first time in school history, Monomoy’s boys soccer program is heading to the state semifinals after another game-winning goal by junior Seamus St. Pierre.

The ninth-seeded Sharks clinched a spot in the Final Four after erasing a two-goal deficit to upset top-seeded Cohasset, 3-2, in the Division 4 state quarterfinals Saturday evening in Cohasset.

“What an effort by the team,” longtime Monomoy coach Keith Clark said. “They played their hearts out. Full credit to Cohasset — they are a quality team, a quality program. It means a lot to come here and defeat them on their home field.”

Monomoy (15-3-3) now faces fifth-seeded Gardner (15-3-2) in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. today at Scituate High. The winner will face the winner of the Lynnfield-Hampshire Regional semifinal in the state championship Saturday (time and location TBA).

Despite early scoring chances by Monomoy, it was Cohasset (15-4-2) that took the lead after Nathan Askjaer and Cian Casey netted goals to give the Skippers a 2-0 lead in the first half.

But the Sharks never wavered. With less than two minutes remaining in the first half, junior Ryan Laramee launched a corner kick to the Skippers’ goalmouth, where junior Owen Ramler managed to head the ball before St. Pierre deflected into the net with his shoulder.

The goal cut Cohasset’s lead to 2-1 at halftime and instilled belief in Monomoy that it was going to hang tough in the final 40 minutes.

“It was good to get a goal before halftime,” Clark said. “We had some chances — a lot of good chances — that we kind of squandered a little bit. That’s what we were saying on the sideline, if we could get one before the half, we could calm down a little bit and go from there. It was pivotal for us to get one before the half.”

The momentum the Sharks garnered from their first goal was apparent from the opening minutes of the second half. In the fifth minute of the frame, senior Greg Greiner sent a crossing pass into the top of the box where junior Ryan Laramee awaited.

Laramee blasted a shot past Cohasset goalkeeper Wylie Gardiner to tie the game at 2 and then immediately raced toward the bleachers to celebrate in front of the capacity crowd that was brought to its feet.

“I blacked out, honestly,” said Laramee, a Harwich resident. “I wanted to go to the bench first, but I knew there were a bunch of fans waiting for me.”

With 20:32 remaining, St. Pierre added to his magical postseason when he stole the ball from a Cohasset defender then dribbled past Gardiner and tapped the ball into the net to give Monomoy a 3-2 lead.

Like Laramee, St. Pierre shared the moment with the Monomoy faithful that made the trek to the South Shore. He ran along a chain link fence with his teammates while exchanging high-fives with the crowd.

“Crowd energy affects everybody on the field's energy, so I had to get everyone up,” said St. Pierre, a Chatham resident.

Saturday’s heroics were the latest in a string of spectacular performances by St. Pierre, who also netted the game-winning goal in the team’s 2-1 victory over Frontier Regional in the second round.

“Seamus is on a tear,” Clark said. “He’s a focal point and we’re finding him. He’s got a very high level of intelligence as a striker — he knows where his players are and how to find them.”

With a lead intact, Monomoy did its best to keep possession for the final 20 minutes of action. Tensions rose as the scoreboard clock counted down, and nerves reached new heights during the final five minutes after the clock froze and the time remaining was only kept by the officials on the field.

“It’s the most nerve-wracking moment of your entire life when you can’t see how much time is left,” St. Pierre said. “You just have to have trust in yourself and trust in the way you’ve worked your entire life, and your result will come.”

When the official finally brought his hand to his mouth and blew three consecutive whistles to signify the match was over, the Monomoy players raced to the crowd to celebrate the history they made with their friends, classmates and family.

As sweet as the moment was, the players quickly began to focus on Tuesday’s semifinal.

“In our minds, we know we can [win],” Laramee said. “We know we can hold up. We did it [last game] and we’ll do it again if we have to. We’re confident in our defense. We know these next two games are going to be harder than this, but we’ve got to go further.”

** Editor's Note: If you’re unable to make it to tonight's state semifinal, follow Cape Cod Chronicle sports reporter Brad Joyal on X (formerly Twitter) at @bradjoyal for live updates during the game. Visit Capecodchronicle.com and The Chronicle’s social media pages Tuesday night for a recap following the game. **