Mount Greylock Boys Open Season with Scoreless Draw
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Making his first varsity start against the defending Churchill Division champions and 2022 state quarter-finalists from Pope Francis, Mount Greylock senior Lex Anagnos was not overwhelmed.
But, at one point, he definitely was worried.
“The best thing you can do as a team is come out strong in the second half when you’re tied,” Anagnos said after backstopping the Mounties to a 0-0 tie against the Cardinals. “If you put one away early, the other team’s finished. They’re defeated.
“So I was a little worried that I was going to concede and give them that momentum. But as long as you keep your head up, keep making saves, you have nothing to worry about. And I feel really good about how we all played.”
Anagnos, who needed to make just three saves in the first half, made three in the first three minutes of the second half as Pope Francis turned up the pressure.
But he was equal to each of those challenges and finished with 11 stops as Mount Greylock put a 4-0 loss to Pope Francis last September on John Allen Field in the rear view mirror.
Although it will wait at least until Saturday at Lenox to score its first goal of 2023, Mount Greylock showed flashes on Tuesday of an attack that could make the Mounties dangerous this fall.
Most of the strong opportunities in the first half belonged to Mount Greylock, which got strong shots on goal from, among others, Everett Bayliss, Will Apotsos and Caleb Low in the first 40 minutes.
“We had a little stretch there for 10, 15 minutes where I felt like we could have been up 2-0,” Mount Greylock coach Blair Dils said. “Just some missed opportunities by our guys. But we’ll get back to training, and we’ll bury those. And, hopefully, next game, we’ll put those in.”
Dils was pleased with what he saw from Anagnos in his first outing taking over for graduated keeper Dan Warren.
“He’s put in the time, playing club soccer and working,” Dils said. “He played basketball last year, and it helped his hands immensely.
“A lot of these guys did the little things we asked them to do in the off-season to get better, and he’s clearly one of those guys.”
After Anagnos and the defense held off a flurry from the Cardinals to start the second half, Mount Greylock generated a couple of chances from Declan Rogers and Cam Miller in an eventful first six minutes of the second half.
That initial burst of energy from both teams was followed by a long stretch where neither could find many openings in the final third.
But in the closing moments, Pope again tested Anagnos, firing two shots in rapid succession inside of two minutes.
“A couple of handballs, a couple of bobbles on my part, but we were able to keep the clean sheet,” Anagnos said. “I’m really happy we’re able to start the season with no goals conceded. Last year, it took until the tournament for us to have a clean sheet. So it’s fantastic for us to be able to keep that clean sheet right out of the gate.”
Dils also was happy with his team’s performance in its first match of the fall.
“[The Cardinals] were league champs last year, so we use them as a measuring stick,” Dils said. “And I think we measured up pretty well. They had, obviously, some great chances, and we had some great chances, too.
“So, other than missing some opportunities, I’m pleased with the work rate and our conditioning and what we’re trying to do with the ball in general.”