Handball Hurts Devils' Chances with Spartans
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. -- Playing the Monument Mountain girls' soccer team with 11 players is tough enough. Playing the Spartans with just 10 players was too tall of a task for Drury, which fell to the Spartans 3-0 after losing one of their girls to an intentional handball in the box with 65 minutes left in the game.The Blue Devils' defense did their best to hang in the game, but the handball not only eliminated one of their players, but it also allowed Alandra Lopez to score on a penalty kick to give Monument (3-1) a 1-0 lead. Drury (1-1-1) then gave up an own goal in the 33rd minute of play before the Spartans finally found the back of the net the traditional way, with Kat Lister scoring off of a feed from Courtney Freadman two minutes and 17 seconds into the second half.
"Our 'unit of 10' played extremely well for the entire game and pressured a majority of the balls throughout the remainder of the game," Blue Devils head coach Molly Meczywor said. "We had several chances to score throughout the game, but we need to work on finishing, especially in tight games like this and [Mount] Greylock. Defensively, Mackenzie Bona, Alyssa Marceau, Amanda Ramsdell and Danielle Racette worked very hard to clear offensive attacks."
Meg Nejaime had to work hard to earn the shutout, making nine saves in goal for Monument. Junior keeper Ali Tatro stopped 10 shots in a losing effort for Drury, which next plays at Pittsfield at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday.