WEST ROXBURY, Mass. - Halloween costumes were in full effect from a boisterous home crowd at RL for an entertaining and highly competitive match between Roxbury Latin and Middlesex.

After the initial period of back-and-forth, Adriano Valmora (Montreal, Quebec) picked up a ball from Bryan Mayhew (Kingston, Jamaica) on the flank and twisted past two defenders to drive across the middle and unleash a dart from the top of the box that stuck into the side net at pace.

The rest of the half saw RL grow more dangerous, as Dillan Akinc, Drew Anderson, and Michael Clark were all a handful attacking from the flank and middle in alternating patterns that had the Middlesex backline on its heels.

The second half saw Middlesex absorb more of the long counter attempts and clean up the second balls effectively to keep the pressure going both ways.

After a set piece that the wall blocked in the 75th minute, Mayhew picked up the rebound and cut past a defender at the top of the box. The outstretch leg caught Mayhew and the referee awarded a penalty that Mayhew dispatched to double the lead for the visitors.

RL continued to battle until the final whistle and were led by Nishant Rajagopalan and Kenneth Foster in the back.

A number of players chipped in, but the back line of Will McCarthy (Concord, Mass.), Quinn Falvey (Winchester, Mass.), Luis Lugo Canales (Moterrey, Mexico), and Chris DeMorais (Wakefield, Mass.) performed particularly well as a unit in earning the clean sheet for Middlesex.