Mount Greylock Boys Shut Out Pittsfield, Claim North Title

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Mount Greylock freshman Cedric LeMaire scored four goals in the Mounties' season opener at Berkshire Community College way back in March.

 

On Sunday, he finished the year with the winning goal in a 2-0 win over Pittsfield in the Berkshire County North Division title game.

 

Senior Julius Munemo also scored for the Mounties, cashing in the rebound of a LeMaire shot off the crossbar less than a minute after the freshman's game-winner.

 

And senior keeper Oscar Low stopped 11 shots as Mount Greylock earned a 2-1 win in the season series against the Generals and finished the Fall 2 season with a crown.

 

"It's pretty ironic that our turf field at home wasn't built, and we ended up playing here," said LeMaire, who also scored a pair of goals in another game on Gene Delea Field during the Fall 2 campaign.

 

"I've been playing here since this wasn't a turf field, so it's kind of like a second home field, I guess."

 

It was the Generals who made themselves at home in Mount Greylock's end of the field most of the first half.

 

Pittsfield peppered Low with six first half shots on goal while Mount Greylock managed just one shot on frame against Generals keeper Will Kinne.

 

In addition to stopping every shot that came his way, Low came off his line in the 25th minute to deny Luke Peplowski on a dangerous opportunity inside the 18.

 

"Oscar has been like that for the last three years," Mount Greylock coach Blair Dils said. "He's been great, just steady, and he shows up in the big games, for sure."

 

After seeing Pittsfield carry the play most of a scoreless first half, Dils said he did not make too many changes during the break.

 

"Not really," he said. "We moved Ceddy [LeMaire] into the middle and put Leo [Rossiter] out on the wing, but we've been kind of switching those two all year, so it wasn't like it was a surprise for Pittsfield.

 

"We had to do a better job of dealing with their central midfield. They were leaking [Matt Miller] through, and we tried to do a better job on him. And, as always, you have to limit what Luke [Peplowski] can do against you, too."

 

Eight minutes into the second half, the Mounties earned a direct free kick about 23 yards from the Pittsfield goal.

 

Munemo made a feint at the ball before LeMaire fired a shot around the wall and into the net.

 

"We have been practicing those quite a bit, so we just did what we've been practicing and it worked out," LeMaire said. "There was a small gap on the right side of the wall, so just slotted it in the bottom corner. Julius distracted the wall, so everything worked out."

 

Thirty-five seconds later, Munemo, the hero of Thursday's county semi-final, finished to give the Mounties a two-goal lead less than 10 minutes into the second half.

 

"Those 10 minutes of play were some of the best we had all season," LeMaire said.

 

The win gave Mount Greylock seven straigh to finish the season, a stretch that included a 1-0 win over Pittsfield at Kirvin Park.

 

After seeing his team fall one game short of a county title on Sunday, Pittsfield coach Andrew Antil was disappointed in the outcome but not the effort.

 

"We stuck to the game plan, and we had plenty of opportunities," Antil said. "But there were so many bodies in front of the net. And it's hard when you can't head the ball. I'm not making excuses, because they can't head the ball either.

 

"We put forth the effort. Everybody worked their butt off."

 

Photos from this game here.