McGrath's Goal Lifts Hoosac Boys Over Wahconah
DALTON, Mass. -- The Hoosac Valley boys soccer team has yet to see a loss this 2015 season after a 1-0 victory on the road at Wahconah High School Wednesday evening under the lights.
"We're trying to get the program back on its feet again," Hoosac coach Mike Russo said. "And this is a great step in that direction, we still have a long long way to go, but I am very pleased so far."
The Hurricanes are taking small steps toward success this season, tying their first game with Drury 1-1 and beating them the second time 1-0. With Wednesday evening's win, they are now 2-0-1, a lot better than last year's 2-8-8 finish.
Hoosac and Wahconah went to half-time with no score. It was in the second half when the Hurricanes lit their fire and came out attacking.
They were moving the ball well up the line and finding open space, which gave them more opportunities to put the ball on net than they had in the first half.
The goal came at the 32-minute mark after Nate Wajtaszek found Keegan McGrath, who went one on one with Wahconah's last defender. McGrath was able to push the ball by the defender and send a shot to the low left corner.
Prior to the play between McGrath and Wajtaszek that put Hoosac in the lead, Watjaszek found himself attacking the net at an attempt of another scoring opportunity, but went down inside the 18. He was escorted off the field and later taken to the hospital; Russo said they were unsure of his injury, but hoping for the best results as he is one of the Hurricanes strongest attackers.
Wahconah saw a few opportunities in the final minutes of the game. They came from two freak kicks about 10 yards outside the 18, but Hoosac goalie John Horton (6 saves) fought the fog and was able to save them.
"That was a tremendous effort by our guys, Wahconah is a good team and coming down here and playing in the fog, it was just an unbelievable effort," Russo said. "When we got the goal, I think we started to believe we could beat them."
Hoosac travel to Taconic Friday afternoon, and Wahconah (0-1) plays at Mount Greylock Saturday night at 7 p.m.