Robinson, Levesque Score as Hoosac Blanks Drury

CHESHIRE, Mass. -- Sure, the members of the Hoosac Valley girls soccer team were happy to beat rival Drury on Wednesday afternoon.

 

But after the way the last couple of weeks have fun, the Hurricanes were happy to beat anyone ... or even score a couple of goals.

 

Riley Robinson and Shaleigh Levesque did just that as Hoosac Valley prevailed, 2-0, for its first win since Sept. 19.

 

It is not like Hoosac has been coming out on the wrong end of the scoreboard since then. But the Hurricanes' four straight ties were not ideal, and the one goal it had in its last two games was a bit frustrating.

 

"We've been struggling to score," Hoosac Valley coach Kathy Budaj said. "It's just one of those things. We've got to pull the trigger.

 

"There were times [today] where we should have popped a few more in, and we weren't. We had some opportunities, and it's just making the correct decision when you're in front of the net. That's what we need to do."

 

Early on, it looked like Hoosac had solved its shooting woes.

 

The game was just more than a minute old when Shaleigh Levesque sent a ball from the right wing into the box for Riley Robinson, who threaded a shot between the near post and a diving Mackenzie Dobbert (seven saves).

 

But the score stayed 1-0 for the next 56 minutes despite Hoosac (3-2-4) keeping the Blue Devils (1-9-1) pinned in their defensive end most of the first half.

 

Dobbert and the Drury defense stiffened up.

 

Just moments after Robinson's goal, Levesque had an opportunity on a through ball up the right wing, but Dobbert came off her line to deny the scoring chance.

 

"The formation we use helps to absorb pressure pretty well, and the girls understand what to do," Drury coach Maria Bartini said.

 

Hoosac also missed a couple of golden opoprtunities on its own, including a penalty kick in the 37th minute that was off frame.

 

After not getting a shot on goal at all in the first half, Drury started to generate some chances after intermission, starting with a try by Elli Miles on a counter in the 43rd minute.

 

"We tried to switch things up a little bit in the second half," said Bartini, who moved striker Kayla McGrath into the midfield coming out of the break. "We were doing a little bit of a different look to start the second half, and then we switched it up again.

 

"One thing that is great about the development of our team over the last two seasons is that we've gotten to the point where they understand tactics well enough that they say, 'OK, we're going to try a different formation,' and the can roll with that. And then they're even contributing to the discussions about what different formations might work well. That's a great sign of our progress as a program."

 

Hoosac Valley was able to double its lead midway through the second half when Sydni Jamros sent a cross from the left wing for Levesque, who finished to make it 2-0.

 

Gabby Billetz made four second-half saves to earn the shutout as the Hurricanes moved back over the .500 mark for the first time since their first game of the season, also a win over the Blue Devils.

 

"I'm happy that we did score the two goals and got the 'W,' " Budaj said. "That's something we're focusing on. We came out of a really strong [Berkshire County North Division] run. We had [non-league opponent] Belchertown, Monument, Wahconah, Pittsfield, Mount Greylock -- all tough games.

 

"We did well in that stretch. We've got this next stretch, and that's what we're focusing on."

 

Hoosac Valley is at Pittsfield on Thursday.

 

Drury has a rematch with Berkshire South foe Mount Everett in Sheffield on Friday.