Underclassmen Step Up as Greylock Boys Win North

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The seniors of the Mount Greylock boys soccer team have been part of some big wins over the years.

Their latest triumph shows just how much talent is coming along behind them.

Freshman Sam Dils and sophomore Brady Foehl each scored a goal, and sophomores Immanuel “Crow” Brennan and Felix Kershaw each factored into a tally as the Mounties defeated Pittsfield, 3-1, on Tuesday evening on John T. Allen Field.

“This is a team that, no question, is guided by our seniors, but it’s great to see the youngsters come in in a big night,” Mount Greylock coach Blair Dils said. “Especially Brady [Foehl]. He, Crow [Brennan] and I sat down before the game and went over some things. And I asked those guys to step up.

“Clearly they did that. And great job by Brady getting a really big goal in a big game.”

Foehl’s marker midway through the first half erased a 1-0 lead that the Generals took about four minutes into the game.

Louis Higuera booted home a cross from Jackson Rich to give Pittsfield the early advantage.

And the way Pittsfield keeper Harrison Rapant was dominating his 18-yard area, it looked for a while like that was all the scoring the Generals (6-4-5) were going to require to at least get the tie they need to qualify for the Western Massachusetts tournament.

“A normal team, you might score five or six the way we played tonight,” Blair Dils said. “And we only got three. He’s that good. He’s so quick off his line that he definitely takes away at least a couple of goals per game.

Mount Greylock broke through in the 16th minute off a free kick and a quick restart in the middle of the field

Eric Hirsch received the ball and took it about five yards before delivering a pinpoint pass to a streaking Foehl in the box. Foehl knocked the ball inside the far post for his second goal of the season.

In the second half, the Mounties took the lead when Dan Flynn converted the rebound of a Kershaw shot that Rapant stopped for one of his six saves.

“It was good to get an early goal, obviously,” Pittsfield coach Andrew Antil said. “The kids are working their butts off out there, both teams are. But we fell asleep a couple of times and they punished us tonight. You can’t fall asleep against a team like Greylock.

“The second half, it was a little hard getting our offense going.”

At the other end of the field, Mount Greylock got its offense going for an insurance goal with about 18 minutes left to play.

Brennan sent a cross from deep on the left wing that Dils headed into the back of the net to provide the Mounties with a little breathing room against a team that seldom gives Mount Greylock any space at all.

“Scoring three against Pittsfield -- we haven’t done that in ages,” Dils said. “We finally broke the tie streak against them because I think we tied them maybe four times in a row. They always play us hard.

“I think we wore them down a little bit. They’ve had a lot of games in the last five games. We had that tough one Friday night [a 2-2 tie with Ludlow], but we didn’t play Friday-Saturday like they did. Catch them where they had a week of rest, and that’s maybe a different outcome tonight.”

Pittsfield has three more chances to get a tie and qualify for the post-season. The first opportunity comes on Thursday at home against Minnechaug.

Mount Greylock (11-1-2), which won a share of its seventh straight Berkshire County North title, goes out of league on Friday to host Longmeadow.