CHICOPEE — The Monson boys soccer team had no answer for Pioneer’s speed up top in the Western Mass. Class D championship game on Friday at Chicopee Comp High School. 

The strategy was simple for the top-seeded Panthers in the first half: send the ball up the field past the Mustangs defense and let Judah Glenn and Alex McClelland use their speed to race behind the defense and create high-quality chances on goal. 

That worked to perfection.

Pioneer scored three goals in the first half and tallied twice in the opening 15 minutes of the second half to run away with a 5-1 victory over third-seeded Monson in the Class D final. 

It’s the first sectional championship in program history for the Panthers.

“They worked extremely hard this year,” Pioneer coach Michael Italia said. “From the first day of the season to today. This was a three year project in terms of me being the coach. Each year progressively their skills, knowledge of the game, intensity and how they work together as a team grew. We built on those every year and it culminated in winning this.” 

The title enabled the Panthers (16-1-2) to cross off one of their preseason goals, and they can now turn their attention to the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament. 

“I think from day one, coach ran us into the ground,” Pioneer’s Judah Glenn said. “That set a precedent for the rest of the season. Our goal this season was to make a deep run at states and win a Western Mass. championship. Last year we didn’t even make the Western Mass. tournament. Once we started seeing how we competed with other teams, we thought we could do it.” 

The Panthers started with the long ball early, but were unable to convert on their chances.

With 19:35 to go in the half, Pioneer drew a corner and made Monson (6-9-2) pay for it. Hayden Girard took the corner and sent it into the box, where McClelland skied up and headed into the back of the goal, giving the Panthers the game’s first lead.

With the early momentum, the Panthers seized the moment in the ensuing five minutes. 

Just under two minutes after taking the lead, Glenn got the ball on the Mustangs side of the field and flipped a perfectly lofted pass to a dashing McClelland. The senior used his speed to get a one-on-one with Monson keeper Kyle Beaudry and finished the shot into the back of the net, making it a 2-0 game with 17:50 to play in the half. 

“I thought we started off slow,” Glenn said. “We didn’t know how we’d bring the energy. Once we saw the through balls were working pretty much every time, we made sure to keep running it.”

With 14:19 to go in the half, McClelland returned the favor. The Panthers sent the ball up to McClelland, who got behind the Mustang defense. He collected the ball and fired a pass that was blocked by a Monson defender, but McClelland regained possession, found Glenn flying down the middle and Glenn finished it to give Pioneer a 3-0 lead. 

On a windy day in Chicopee, the Panthers had the wind at their back in the first half and made sure to take advantage of it. 

“We had the wind in our favor so that helped,” McClelland said. “We knew we could get to the through balls way faster than they could."

Just three minutes into the second half, Pioneer struck for its fourth goal of the game. 

The Panthers drew a corner, with Girard sending it into the box. This time it was Glenn who rose up and headed it into goal to give the Panthers a 4-0 lead. 

“All you have to do is place it in the middle or back toward the goal and let Alex and Judah do the work,” Girard said. “That’s all that’s going through my head on those.” 

With 29:52 to play, the McClelland-Glenn connection tallied another goal. Pioneer hit Glenn on a through ball and after drawing the defense, he dished it to McClelland who blasted the shot home to give the senior a hat trick and put the Panthers up 5-0. 

“At halftime, coach told us we can’t stop now,” Glenn said. “On defense, they read every ball in the air. They knew exactly what they were doing and locked it down back there and let us do our thing.” 

The Mustangs finally got one past Pioneer goalie Gavin Gammell — who stopped seven shots in the win — with 9:01 to go, as Kreslen Casseus buried a shot on a deflected ball in the box to cut it to 5-1. 

The Panthers now prepare for the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament, where they enter as the No. 23 seed. Pioneer has a quick turn around as it hosts No. 42 Neighborhood House on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the preliminary round.