Mounties Handle Braves, Clinch Division Crown
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock boys' soccer team still has one big game left on its regular-season schedule, but the Mounties locked up one of its most prized possessions on Thursday, beating Taconic 5-2 to clinch its fourth straight North Division title.Greylock still has a road date with second-place Monument Mountain left on Sunday, but it clinched the division crown a few days early when the Spartans tied Lenox 1-1 on Thursday. That assured a first-place finish for Blair Dils' squad, which now stands 14-2-1 overall and an unblemished 9-0-1 in league play.
"To win the North for the fourth year in a row is a huge accomplishment and not one we're going to take for granted," Dils said. "We're happy some of the pressure's off for Sunday's game, but we still want to finish out the league season unbeaten."
Senior Nathan Majumder took the pressure off early in Thursday's match, scoring three breakaway goals in the first 19 minutes of the game to give the Mounties a quick 3-0 lead. Majumder's fourth hat trick of the season gave him 24 goals for the year with at least two games left to play. Sophomore Ian Brink increased the Greylock lead in the 25th minute, scoring off freshman Benni McComish's second assist of the game.
"Taconic was missing a few players in their back line and great through passes allowed Nathan to get in behind often," Dils said. "Our midfielders did a great job of timing their passes and slotting their passes through the backs. Nathan's scoring rate is unprecedented in my time as a coach in Berkshire County, and I would like to think he ranks up there as one of the all-time scorers in county soccer history. It's really a pleasure to watch him play the game these days."
Down 4-0 at the break, the Braves (3-9-3) kept competing in the second half and came through with two goals from junior striker Dominic Nda. The Mounties countered with a goal from sophomore Grant Raphael in between, however, and the Greylock defense, led by sophomore Jake Foehl, took care of the rest from there.
"Taconic's had a tough year with the jump up to the North, but they are extremely talented up front," Dils said. "If they can sort things out in the back and tighten up on the defensive end, they are going to be an extremely tough matchup for any team next year.
"Jake Foehl doesn't get a lot of attention, but he's done an outstanding job as a defensive midfielder this year. Jake regularly was able to break up plays today and prevent Taconic from getting the ball to their speedy frontliners."
The Mounties play at Monument at 2:30 on Sunday. The Braves next host Hoosac Valley at 11 a.m. on Saturday.