GREENFIELD — It wasn’t the result the Greenfield boys soccer team was hoping for on Wednesday against Monson. 

The visiting Mustangs popped in a pair of first-half goals to take command of the game. The Monson defense did its job from there, keeping the Green Wave off the scoreboard the rest of the way to spoil their Senior Night with a 3-0 victory at Vets Field. 

The loss snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak for Greenfield. 

“Generally I'm pretty happy with the season,” Green Wave head coach Erich Leaper said. “Today didn't go our way. I don't think we played that bad; the score just makes it worse than it actually was. We played fine. They score in the beginning, we lose our focus, it progressed from there and suddenly we're down 3-0. We just didn't do it today. I don't have a good reason for it." 

In the long run, the loss won’t hurt Greenfield (10-5-1) much. By winning 10 games the Green Wave have already secured an automatic spot in the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament. 

The program itself has also bettered its win total from the last two years combined, showing the progress Greenfield has made on the pitch. Against Monson, Greenfield was challenged by a team in a higher league, showing the level of soccer Leaper hopes his team can get to one day. 

“It's been a good season,” Leaper said. “We won seven games combined my first two years and now we're at 10. Games like this are where we need to progress. Monson plays in a higher league than us and plays better teams than us. They don't have a great record but they're playing solid teams. As we progress as a program we want to be up there with them. These are games we want to be playing. We need to play with speed and strength and we can't lose focus.”

It was Jake Beaupre who kicked off the scoring for the Mustangs, bashing in a shot in front off a dish from Colin Beaupre in the 14th minute. 

It looked like that score was going to hold until the half, but a miscommunication on the back end of the Green Wave defense following a pass back to the goalie led to an own-goal, with Monson taking a 2-0 lead in the 37th minute. 

The Mustangs (5-8-1) put the game away with eight minutes to play in regulation. It was Colin Beaupre to Jake Beaupre to open the game and the second time around it was Jake Beaupre hitting him with a pass just outside the 18 where Colin Beaupre smashed a shot in that went just under the crossbar that gave Monson its 3-0 edge. 

Liam Grahame-Lawson came up with eight saves in goal for Greenfield. 

With a young team, Leaper said he likes the progress they’ve made throughout the season, noting how the younger players have grown into roles as the season has gone on. 

Those players, as well as the veterans on the team, will be called upon when the postseason gets underway. 

“A lot of guys are progressing,” Leaper said. “Cody [Yetter] and Grayson [Thomas], our eighth graders, are progressing. We have an eighth grade goalie who’s going to be really good. Our ninth graders are getting better, our 10th graders are getting better. There's a lot of positives. Days like today make it feel like there aren't but there are. We can see that looking ahead but they're so young and they just see the moment.”

Greenfield will likely have two non-playoff tune-ups next week prior to the Division 5 state tourney, which will begin the following week.