Clark Hat Trick Lifts Drury Boys at Hoosac Valley
ADAMS, Mass. -- Conor Clark converted three tries from well outside the 18 to lead the Drury boys soccer team to a 5-0 win over Hoosac Valley on Tuesday night at Renfrew Park.
Reece Racette and Max Daugherty each scored a goal as the Blue Devils (6-2) won their fourth straight and their second of the season against the rival Hurricanes.
Hoosac Valley slipped to 1-4 on the season but showed some promise offensively, especially in the second half.
“I was happy with the effort,” Hoosac Valley coach Blair Mahar said. “We played them a couple of weeks ago, and we got handled. We came out tonight and played their team better.
“Drury’s a good team. They’re well disciplined. They’re well coached. They’re fast and strong. So, yeah, for my boys to come out and play them better tonight -- we feel good about it.”
Drury got off to a fast start when Jon Boland set up Racette with a cross from the right wing in the fourth minute.
About 10 minutes later, Clark made it 2-0 on a free kick from near the midfield stripe.
It was 3-0 at half-time after Daugherty scored on a run up the left wing after Racette headed forward a ball out of the back.
In the second half, Clark scored on two more long-range bombs.
First, he took a pass from Mitchell Anderson just inside the right-wing touchline and fired the ball across the field and into the net. Then in the 67th minute, Clark launched a free kick from the right side, about 40 yards from the goal, that found the corner of the goal to close the scoring.
Hoosac Valley had some chances to get on the board in the closing minutes, but Drury’s defense and the goalkeeping combination of Connor Rumbolt and Chad Lawrence were able to preserve the shutout.
One of the real bright spots for the Hurricanes on Tuesday was the play of keeper Brodie Lanoue, who made 17 saves in the loss.
“Drury had a couple of great goals off of directs,” Mahar said. “There’s not much you can do about those. If you knock those off the tally, it’s a 3-0 game.
“For an eighth-grader, Brodie played a great game. He made some outstanding saves for us. He’s only been on the [varsity] team for a week now, so he’s really stepping up big-time.”
Hoosac Valley hosts Mount Everett on Thursday afternoon at the high school.
Drury goes to Berkshire Community College to face Taconic on Thursday night.