Drury's McGrath Gets 100th Career Point in Win Over Mount Greylock

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Getting to 100 career points was huge for Drury High senior Kayla McGrath.

 

Career point No. 101 was even bigger.

 

McGrath reached the career milestone late in the first half with a goal to tie Mount Greylock, and in the second half, her second goal of the game gave the Blue Devils a rare 2-1 win over their North County rivals.

 

McGrath, who registered her 99th career point on the road last Thursday, waited four days to get back on the pitch. The Mounties made her wait even longer to get back in the scorebook.

 

But with 6 minutes, 41 seconds left in the first half, McGrath took a through ball from classmate Elli Miles at midfield, dribbled upfield and toward the left side and nailed a left-footed shot inside the far post to level the score and touch off a brief midfield celebration with her family and teammates.

 

“As soon as I scored that, I felt like my normal self again,” McGrath said. “I was nervous because you’re going to be nervous when you’re one point away. But I was so happy, and I just felt like a different player afterwards.”

 

There were a few other moments when it looked like McGrath would get the monkey off her back.

 

In the 17th minute, Drury’s Hannah LaCasse knocked a corner kick from the right wing into the 18; McGrath got a head on the ball but it went high of the goal for a goal kick. A minute later, McGrath took a direct free kick on the right wing from 28 yards out, well within her usual range, that slammed off Mount Greylock’s wall and out for a throw-in.

 

In the 30th minute, McGrath took a through ball from Miles and went up the middle before taking a shot from the top of the 18 that went just over the crossbar.

 

“When I missed that shot, I was nervous,” McGrath said. “I was like, ‘Oh, no,’ because Greylock is an amazing team. And I was nervous, thinking, ‘Could that be my only shot of the game? What could happen?’

 

“And then I started thinking more about the positive side. I thought, if I can’t get a shot off, I will create more opportunities. So I kept trying to do that until I knocked one in.”

 

And she did it, fittingly, with a little help from longtime running mate Miles.

 

“I was thinking about that last night,” McGrath said. “I thought, that’d be awesome if Elli had an assist on my 100th [point]. That’s how it’s been all season. It’s always been Elli to me, me to Elli. But I was gonna love it however it happened.”

 

And Drury needed a goal, however it happened, after Mount Greylock (9-3) opened the scoring midway through the first half.

 

Maggie Brody converted an assist from Lucy McWeeny to put the visitors up, 1-0, with 20 minutes, 58 seconds left until half-time.

 

After McGrath tied it, the teams played a scoreless six minutes to get to half-time tied, 1-1.

 

Mount Greylock had the first strong chance to break that tie in the 45th minute when Livia Morales took a free kick from just outside the 18 that was blocked by McGrath in the box.

 

At the other end, Drury converted its only quality chance of the second half for the game-winner.

 

Senior Samantha Kogut got the winning play started with a long ball over the top down the right wing for McGrath, who carried into the 18 and scored while colliding with Mount Greylock keeper Emma Newberry.

 

The goal gave Drury its first lead of the game but came at a cost, as McGrath was forced to leave the game with assistance and finish the afternoon on the bench with one leg elevated.

 

“It was very hard for me to watch because I love soccer,” McGrath said. “Even when I hurt my other ankle against Taconic earlier in the season, sitting on the bench, I knew that I may not be on the field but I need to support my team by communicating with them. So that’s what I did.”

 

McGrath and the rest of the spectators at John J. DelNegro Field watched as the Blue Devils held off a furious effort by Mount Greylock to get the equalizer. The Mounties earned a half dozen corner kicks and fired seven shots on Drury keeper Brooke Bishop after surrendering the lead.

 

But Bishop and the Drury defense stood up to the challenge and showed the kind of ability that allowed the Blue Devils to start the season with a seven-game shutout streak.

 

Of course, some of those shutouts were pretty lopsided, and Tuesday was the first time all year that the Blue Devils have faced a deficit.

 

Drury coach Maria Bartini was happy to see her squad respond.

 

“We needed some adversity,” Bartini said. “Because we are going to be going post-season. Some of our earlier games have been a little more lopsided. [The team hasn’t] been as pushed sometimes. But this was a really good test for us. We talked about how the second part of our season starts now. Now, we’re preparing for what comes next.”

 

The next game for Drury comes Wednesday at Hopkins, one of the tougher foes the Blue Devils have faced this fall. When the teams met in North Adams back in September, Drury emerged with a 2-0 win.

 

Mount Greylock, which saw a seven-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday, goes to Palmer on Friday.