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Lucca Hernandez goal lifts Monument Mountain past Westport 1-0, ending the Wildcats' tournament run

Boys soccer, MIAA Division 4 quarterfinal: Monument Mountain's lone goal came in the last minutes of the first half, and Westport, a year removed from the state semifinals, finishes 15-4-3 after winning three tournament games, two of them on penalty kicks.

By the SC360 Sports Desk | Published Oct. 18, 2026 | Last verified Nov. 14, 2026, 6:40 p.m. ET

WESTPORT Lucca Hernandez scored late in the first half Saturday, and third-seeded Monument Mountain made that goal stand up through the second half to end Westport's state tournament run in the Division 4 boys soccer quarterfinals.

Hernandez, the Spartans' No. 7, scored on an assist from No. 12 in the closing minutes of the half on the Monument Mountain Regional High School field in Great Barrington, and the 1-0 final is the result on the MIAA's Division 4 bracket. Monument Mountain (10-8-4) moves on to the state semifinals against No. 10 Littleton, and Westport, the 22nd seed, finishes 15-4-3.

A year ago the result went the other way, when Westport beat Monument Mountain 3-2 in the Division 4 Round of 16 at Westport on Nov. 8, 2025, and went on to the state semifinals, according to the MIAA's 2025 bracket. Saturday's win sends the Spartans to the final four with three straight shutouts in this tournament and a 9-0 combined score across those three games.

One goal and a long second half

Hernandez came into the quarterfinal as one of the Spartans' sharpest attackers, with two goals in the 4-0 tournament opener against Southwick on Nov. 9 and the passes that set up both of Sean Collins' goals in the 4-0 win over Frontier on Wednesday, iBerkshires reported. His goal Saturday came in the last few minutes of the first half, and Monument Mountain carried the 1-0 lead into halftime.

Westport needed one goal to tie for the entire second half, and the scoreboard still read Monument Mountain 1, Westport 0 with 18:42 to play and again with five minutes left, when the final minutes were kept on the field. Calvin Cooney, a Spartans captain, started in goal, and Monument Mountain finished its third straight shutout of the tournament. After the Frontier game, Monument Mountain coach Matt Naventi told iBerkshires that Cooney "came off his line really well" and read throw-ins, corner kicks and set pieces, work that Naventi said "alleviates a lot of the pressure."

At the other end, Westport junior goalkeeper Johnny Gaboury, who had 11 shutouts this season, and a back line anchored by senior center back Blake Stewart and junior center back Jackson Chase kept the Spartans from adding a second goal, so the Wildcats were one finish away from forcing overtime until the final whistle.

Who took the field

Westport's starters included Gaboury in goal, seniors Stewart, CJ LeBlanc, Tiago Rodrigues, Gavin DaSilva and Tiago Branco, Chase, Preston Carvalho, Alex Ribeiro and Noah Jedrey, with senior midfielder Joey Guild and junior midfielder Miguel Ferreira among the reserves for coach Chris Parker.

Monument Mountain's starters included Cooney, Hernandez, Mason Whiteman, Collins, Nico Pazmino and Banyan Bourla. Whiteman and Collins had scored five of the Spartans' eight goals in the first two rounds, Whiteman with the winner against Southwick and two more against Frontier and Collins with two goals and an assist against Frontier, iBerkshires reported. Bourla made a goal-line clearance in the 59th minute of the Frontier game to save that shutout.

Westport's tournament run

The Wildcats opened the tournament on Saturday, Nov. 7, with a 6-0 preliminary round win over No. 43 Brooke Charter on the Atlantis Charter turf, East Bay Newspapers reported. Rodrigues, a senior outside midfielder, scored three goals, the first a tap-in after a headed pass from LeBlanc left him alone with the goalkeeper. Chase scored off a LeBlanc corner kick, DaSilva hit an unassisted shot from 25 yards and Branco knocked in a rebound, and Gaboury needed one save for his 11th shutout of the season.

Two days later Westport went to No. 11 Clinton, which had gone 14-2-1 in the regular season, and the teams were tied 2-2 after regulation and two 10-minute overtimes. LeBlanc tied the game 1-1 on a penalty kick in the first half, Clinton went back ahead in the second half on its second penalty kick of the night, and a Westport freshman midfielder headed in a LeBlanc free kick to make it 2-2, East Bay Newspapers reported. Gaboury made 10 saves through regulation and the two overtimes and two more in the shootout, and Branco, DaSilva, Rodrigues, Jedrey and Ribeiro all made their kicks in a 5-4 shootout win, East Bay Newspapers and The Boston Globe reported.

On Thursday, Nov. 12, Westport played at home against No. 27 Hampshire Regional, which had upset No. 6 Manchester Essex 1-0 in the previous round, according to the MIAA bracket. Chase scored Westport's goal in regulation, the game ended 1-1, and the Wildcats won the shootout 4-3, the Globe reported. The MIAA records both shootout games as one-goal Westport wins, and the second one put Westport in the state quarterfinals for the second year in a row.

Westport's season

Westport went 12-3-3 in the regular season, the record the MIAA lists with its seeds. The Wildcats lost their opener 3-1 at Durfee on Sept. 8 and then went 12 games without a loss, winning 10 of them, by their schedule on Arbiter Live. A 1-0 win at Holbrook on Thursday, Oct. 8, clinched their fifth straight MAC title, East Bay Newspapers reported.

Gaboury made five saves in a 3-1 win over Diman on Oct. 19, when Rodrigues, LeBlanc and RJ Ferreira scored, and eight saves in a 1-0 win over Bishop Stang two days later, when Carvalho scored on an assist from Miguel Ferreira, East Bay Newspapers reported. On senior day, Friday, Oct. 30, Chase, Branco and Miguel Ferreira scored in a 3-0 win over Somerset Berkley, and Gaboury earned his 10th shutout, the paper reported.

A senior class that rebuilt the program

In 2021, Parker and his staff brought 10 seventh graders onto the junior varsity team to rebuild the program, and the eight seniors honored on senior day were the core of that group, he said at the ceremony, East Bay Newspapers reported. "During their six seasons, they have worked tirelessly to improve," Parker said. "They have embraced the 'Pitch Warrior Way' with a devotion to each other and taking pride in doing the little things well."

Those six seasons included the 2023 Division 5 state title, when No. 8 Westport beat No. 2 Douglas in the final in Leominster, winning a 4-2 penalty-kick shootout after two overtimes, to finish 22-0-1, the first state championship in any sport in school history, The Herald News reported. Last fall Westport went 16-0-2 in the regular season, beat Seekonk 3-0, Monument Mountain 3-2 and Gardner 2-1 as the No. 6 seed in Division 4, and fell 3-0 to Bromfield in the state semifinals at Victory Field in Watertown on Nov. 17, 2025, the MIAA's 2025 bracket shows.

Co-captains Stewart and LeBlanc led this year's seniors, along with Rodrigues, DaSilva, Branco and Guild, East Bay Newspapers reported. LeBlanc scored or set up four of the eight goals Westport scored in play in its first two tournament games, and after the Brooke Charter win he summed up how this team played. "We are spreading the ball around and everyone is scoring goals," he told East Bay Newspapers. "That's what you need to do to win a state championship."

Gaboury, Chase and Miguel Ferreira finish their junior seasons, and the freshman midfielder who headed in the tying goal at Clinton finishes his first, so all four are in line to return to the Wildcats next fall.

What comes next for Monument Mountain

Monument Mountain went 7-8-4 in the regular season and has won three straight in the tournament, beating Southwick 4-0 on Nov. 9 and Frontier 4-0 on Wednesday before Saturday's win, by the MIAA bracket. The Frontier win sent the Spartans to the state quarterfinals for the third time in four years, iBerkshires reported.

The Spartans play No. 10 Littleton in the Division 4 semifinals. Littleton beat No. 2 West Bridgewater 2-0 at West Bridgewater on Saturday, after wins over O'Bryant and Bromfield, the team that ended Westport's season a year ago. The MIAA has not yet posted the semifinal date, time or site. The other semifinal matches No. 4 Sutton against the winner of No. 1 Cohasset and No. 9 Monomoy, who were set to play at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Cohasset.

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Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

Notes

The goal, the scorer and jersey numbers, the score at halftime and late in the second half and both starting lineups are from our own coverage of Saturday's game, and the 1-0 final is confirmed by the MIAA's Division 4 bracket, read about 4:56 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, which also gives the seeds, seeding records, every earlier tournament result and the semifinal pairings. Player names are spelled as iBerkshires, East Bay Newspapers and The Boston Globe print them, and earlier-round scorers, saves, quotes and season details are from those outlets, each credited in the story. Last year's results are from the MIAA's 2025 bracket, the 2023 title from The Herald News and the regular season from Westport's Arbiter Live schedule. The 15-4-3 and 10-8-4 records and the 9-0 tournament score are our own math. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.

Corrections

No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.

Sources (12)

  1. MIAA: Boys Soccer 2026 Division 4 State TournamentSeeds 3. Monument Mountain (7-8-4), 10. Littleton (12-3-1), 22. Westport (12-3-3), 27. Hampshire Regional (10-5-3); Round 1 Westport 6, Brooke Charter 0 (11/07/26, Atlantis Charter); Round 2 Clinton 2, Westport 3 (11/09/26, Clinton HS); Monument Mountain 4, Southwick 0 (11/09/26); Round 3 Manchester Essex 0, Hampshire Regional 1 (11/10/26); Monument Mountain 4, Frontier 0 (11/11/26); Hampshire Regional 1, Westport 2 (11/12/26, Westport HS); Round 4 "Monument Mountain Reg HS 1, Westport Middle-High School 0, 11/14/26 2:00 PM, Monument Mountain HS"; West Bridgewater 0, Littleton 2 (11/14/26 12:00 PM); Cohasset vs. Monomoy 11/14/26 5:30 PM, Cohasset HS; Round 5 Littleton vs. Monument Mountain, Sutton vs. TBD, no date posted. Read Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, about 4:56 p.m.
  2. MIAA: Boys Soccer 2025 Division 4 State TournamentSeeds 6. Westport (16-0-2), 11. Monument Mountain (6-6-6); Westport 3, Seekonk 0 (11/05/25); Westport 3, Monument Mountain 2 (11/08/25, Westport); Gardner 1, Westport 2 (11/12/25); Bromfield 3, Westport 0 (11/17/25, Victory Field, Watertown). Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  3. iBerkshires: Spartans Start Tournament Run with ShutoutPosted Nov. 9, 2026: Lucca Hernandez two goals, Mason Whiteman game-winner, Sean Collins assist to Luke Guerrero, Calvin Cooney and Xavier Hernandez split time in goal, Monument Mountain 8-8-4. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  4. iBerkshires: Spartans Roll Past Frontier in Sweet 16 (Stephen Dravis)Posted Nov. 11, 2026: Collins two goals and an assist (both goals set up by Hernandez), Whiteman two goals, Nico Pazmino cross, Banyan Bourla goal-line save in the 59th minute, Cooney in goal, coach Matt Naventi quotes, third state quarterfinal in four years, 9-8-4. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  5. East Bay Newspapers: Westport dominates Brooke 6-0 in tournament play (Richard W. Dionne Jr.)Posted Nov. 8, 2026: Tiago Rodrigues three goals; Jackson Chase, Gavin DaSilva, Tiago Branco goals; CJ LeBlanc assist; co-captains Blake Stewart and LeBlanc; senior midfielder Joey Guild; Johnny Gaboury one save, 11th shutout; LeBlanc quote. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  6. East Bay Newspapers: Wildcats edge Clinton 3-2 in PKs, move on to Sweet 16 (Richard W. Dionne Jr.)Posted Nov. 10, 2026: 2-2 after regulation and two 10-minute overtimes; LeBlanc penalty kick; Clinton second penalty kick; a freshman midfielder headed in a LeBlanc free kick; Branco, Da Silva, Rodrigues, Jedrey and Ribeiro scored in the 5-4 shootout. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  7. East Bay Newspapers: Soccer teams remain hot as tournament play nears (Richard W. Dionne Jr.)Posted Oct. 23, 2026: fifth consecutive MAC title clinched with a 1-0 win over Holbrook; Diman 3-1 (Rodrigues, LeBlanc, RJ Ferreira); Bishop Stang 1-0 (Preston Carvalho, assist Miguel Ferreira); Gaboury five and eight saves. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  8. East Bay Newspapers: Wildcats celebrate seniors before dominating Somerset Berkley 3-0 (Richard W. Dionne Jr.)Posted Nov. 2, 2026: Chase, Branco and Miguel Ferreira scored; Gaboury 10th shutout; coach Chris Parker on the 2021 seventh-grade group and the eight seniors. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  9. The Boston Globe: MIAA boys soccer tournament roundup, Nov. 9, 2026Westport 3, Clinton 2 (PKs): senior CJ LeBlanc goal and assist, a freshman goal, junior Johnny Gaboury 10 saves in regulation and two in the shootout. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  10. The Boston Globe: MIAA boys soccer tournament roundup, Nov. 12, 2026Westport 2, Hampshire 1 (SO): junior Jackson Chase scored the lone goal in regulation, 4-3 shootout win, Westport 15-3-3. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  11. The Herald News (on Yahoo Sports): 'Amazing': Westport boys soccer team wins school's first-ever MIAA title (in any sport)Published Nov. 19, 2023: No. 8 Westport beat No. 2 Douglas 1-0 (4-2 on penalty kicks) in the Division 5 state final in Leominster; Wildcats 22-0-1; first state championship in any sport. Read Nov. 14, 2026.
  12. Arbiter Live: Westport boys varsity soccer schedule and resultsRegular season results Sept. 8 to Nov. 2 (L 1-3 at Durfee Sept. 8; W 1-0 at Holbrook Oct. 8; W 3-0 vs. Somerset Berkley Oct. 30; L 0-1 at Fairhaven Nov. 2); tournament games through Nov. 14 at Monument Mountain, L. Read Nov. 14, 2026.

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