Hoosac Valley Boys Top Drury Under the Lights
ADAMS, Mass. -- Evan Norcross boomed a 40-yard free kick that curled under the crossbar to give his team a 3-1 lead, and the Hoosac Valley Hurricanes held on for a 3-2 win over rival Drury on Tuesday at Renfrew Park.
Paolo Kareh and Daniel Pompi each scored a goal, and Jaydin Cooper stopped nine shots for the Hurricanes, who snapped a six-match winless streak against the reigning Berkshire County South Division Champions.
“We haven’t beaten them in multiple years, so it was a really big confidence booster for the team,” said Kareh, a senior who scored the game’s first goal in the 10th minute.
“I think it puts us on top of the South, so that made it a big game for us. … I think our team showed up really prepared. … We just came out fast in the beginning and got those two early goals.”
With 31 minutes on the clock, Jacob Richardson took a direct kick high on the left wing and put the ball on target. Corbin Rumbolt made the initial save for Drury, but the Blue Devils lost track of the rebound and Kareh was there to put it home.
Twelve minutes later, Pompi scored on a run up the middle, again putting back a rebound to give the Hurricanes a two-goal lead midway through the first half.
Hoosac Valley (3-5), which scored just one goal in the season-opening loss at Drury, scored three goals for the second straight game on Tuesday night.
“I think we’ve been able to get out wide, get the ball to the wings, and they’ve been doing a good job,” Kareh said. “Dan [Pompi], our striker, has been making those awesome runs.
“I think everyone turned on that attacking mindset that we have to get the ball up the field, no matter what. And we’ve played better together. In practice, we do that a lot. We’ve been working on that constantly.”
With 3:38 left in the first half, Drury (4-6) cut the lead in half.
Scott McGuire Jr. stole the ball at midfield and made a pass up the right side to Reece Racette, who crossed the ball into the box, where Hunter Sarkis headed it home to make it a 2-1 game at half-time.
It did not stay that way for long.
In the 44th minute, Norcross gave his team its second two-goal cushion with a monstrous free kick that energized the fans and the Hoosac Valley bench … and scared his coach.
“At first, I thought: that’s a little too flighted, right?” Patrick Mahoney said with a laugh. “It just kept going, and you could see a little hesitation from the keeper. I couldn’t see his eyes, but you could feel it.
“It was one of those awkward balls to handle, just dropping back below the crossbar. Two thirds of the way, there, I thought, ‘This might happen.’ [Norcross] starts running off, and I still couldn’t believe it until they actually changed the scoreboard.”
Drury rallied from the potentially disheartening goal and rallied for its second goal with 13:51 on the clock. This time, Max Daugherty got things started with a throw-in from deep on the right wing. The ball was headed through the box to Racette on the left side, and he passed to Caleb Besaw, who finished to get the Blue Devils within a goal.
But Drury, which was playing its second game in two days, was not able to get the equalizer.
“In high school, it happens with rainouts, and you have to play the cards you’re dealt,” Drury coach John Jacobbe said. “We were dealt a tough hand, playing a tough Belchertown team [Monday] and Hoosac Valley, who has come a long way. Coach [Mahoney] has done a great job with them. They’re starting to believe.
“We battled our butts off. We battled back when we were dog tired. We don’t make excuses, but it didn’t help.”
Rumbolt made six saves for Drury, which gets a day off on Wednesday before hosting Hoosac Valley on Thursday afternoon.
The Hurricanes have their own fatigue-inducing stretch ahead with a rematch against McCann Tech on Wednesday followed by the trip to Drury on Thursday.