Fit To Be Tied: Drury, Hoosac Boys End in Another Stalemate
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- For the third straight game, no one walked away happy from the Drury-Hoosac Valley boys soccer game ... except, perhaps, the teams' coaches.
"I'm proud of the effort," Drury coach John Jacobbe said. "It was a good, hard-earned tie. We've played Hoosac three times since I came back to Drury, and we've tied them 1-1 all three times. We'll see what happens Monday when we play them again."
For Hoosac Valley coach Mike Russo, it was the first time he faced Drury -- or any other high school team as he enters his first season in the prep ranks after coaching the Williams College men's program for 36 years.
"Overall, it was my first game in high school, and I had fun," Russo said. "I enjoyed it. Hopefully, we'll have quite a few more, but it was a good first game."
Russo was particularly pleased with the way the Hurricanes adjusted after Drury carried the play for most of the first half.
"We changed the shape of our team a little bit," he said. "We changed the shape of the midfield because of the way their midfield played, and I thought that helped a little bit.
"I thought we did a good job of pressing them, keeping the ball in their half. And honestly, I thought they had one or two chances. I was very pleased. The boys gave everything they had. They played with a lot of fighting spirit."
The 'Canes stormed out of half-time with three shots from Nate Wojtaszek and Steve Crouch in the first minute. Dante Richardson and Crouch each added a shot on goal in the first 16 minutes of the half before Drury finally broke the scoreless tie with one of its few second-half chances.
Jake Daugherty took a throw-in in Hoosac's end of the field on the right-wing touch line. His throw found the foot of Logan Rumbolt, who passed back to Daugherty. Daugherty settled the ball on the wing outside the 18 and launched a shot into the far corner of the goal to beat John Horton (two saves).
Less than two minutes later, Hoosac Valley (0-0-1) responded, taking advantage of a turnover in Drury's end to set up Wojtaszek, who took the ball in deep on the right wing and slid a shot inside the far post for the only damage done against Brian Christian (six saves).
"I thought my defense played a very solid game. We had a turnover, and they took advantage of it. Once you get inside the 18, even though that's a fairly easy shot, the kid took a fairly calm shot and put it right in the corner," Jacobbe said. "That's soccer.
"But we knew they were going to step it up. Hoosac is going to battle to the end."
Russo also was complimentary of the Blue Devils.
"This is a tough team to play against," he said. "They have some speed, and they play to their fast guys, and they're tough to defend. I thought we did a good job of neutralizing them.
"That was a great shot from the corner," he said of Daugherty's goal. "We couldn't have done anything about that."
Drury (0-0-1) hosts Mount Greylock on Friday. Hoosac Valley is off until Monday's rematch with the Blue Devils.