Entering the initial 15-minute overtime period, Randolph head coach Dave Levandowski had a simple message for his team: “The last thing I said when we were going out was ‘get to that ball first.'”

It was Kaleb Steward who took those words to heart, lunging into a header on a cross from Ty Rosengren that was buried with authority to give the third-seeded Cardinals (9-8-1) a 1-0 win over No. 2 Westfield/Brocton (12-6).

After finding some of the best offensive chances of the evening on corner kicks, it was Rosengren’s perfect crossing ball with 9:11 remaining in the first extra period that ended up making the difference.

“Corner kicks … you can run plays, you can have all of these set pieces and things, but if nobody has the desire to go in there and get to the ball first it’s not going to matter,” Levandowski said. “Kaleb cut in front and we had the goalkeeper screened for the most part. He just buried it with his head.”

Westfield/Brocton’s Nathan Culbreth looks to make a play in front of Randolph’s Hayden Congdon on Monday. P-J photo by Tim Frank

After two closely contested one-goal games during the regular season, Monday night’s nail-biter was no surprise.

“We split, we beat them once and they beat us once,” Westfield/Brocton coach Jay Pikiewicz said. “I think they have a great, solid defense. They are well-coached. I think we were even teams out there. I think we had a little more offensive opportunity but when it came down to defense they held their own, so that took us out of the game.”

While relying on its stout defense for large stretches of the game, Randolph began the day looking to score as Rosengren came out firing.

The junior midfielder set up a good opportunity, tossing a throw-in near the 6-yard box that was grabbed out of harm’s way by goaltender Mike Johnson.

Rosengren followed that up with a high crossing ball that was also handled by Johnson, before picking up another chance on a free kick that missed the mark.

Randolph’s Ty Rosengren dribbles during Monday’s Section VI Class C semifinal against Westfield/Brocton at Pioneer High School. P-J photo by Tim Frank

Josh Heim returned fire for the Wolverines with a shot off a fast break that was ripped off the outside of the net.

Westfield/Brocton followed that look with a nice head pass from Nathan Culbreth to Gabe Morello that could not be settled for a shot.

With the clock showing 27:45, the Wolverines threatened again as Conner Dispense stuck a header over the bar on a well-placed corner kick.

Randolph grabbed two more corner kicks in the minutes leading up to halftime, while Elber Lopez nearly made the most of his final chance for Westfield/Brocton, firing a shot on goaltender Jacob Bulich that was turned away.

Both teams traded chances back and forth in first series of the second half, as Darian Swanson took a corner for the Wolverines that was settled and fired wide.

Randolph responded to that shot with a pair of deep tries by Steward.

With 15 minutes to play Westfield/Brocton earned one of its best chances on the day when Heim let fly a ball near the 18-yard box.

Bulich was forced to dive to his left and punch that ball out of harm’s way for one of his seven saves on the night.

Despite that chance, Heim and Almeter were held in check for a good portion of the night.

“(Almeter) on the wing and (Heim) on the opposite side, they can run and (Almeter) has got some feet. He is just hard to contain,” Levandowski said. ” … We really just wanted to slow them down, try to slow the pace of the game to fit more of what we can hang with. If we let if get wide open and let them run, we were going to be in a lot of trouble. I thought we did a pretty good job slowing them down for the most part. I figured if we could control the middle of the field we would have a really good chance.”

Johnson’s night included six saves, including a late stop off a free kick by Matthew Schultz.

“Michael did very well, held his own. One slipped by him at the very end, but that’s soccer,” Pikiewicz said.