Westfield Tech Edges McCann Tech
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The Westfield Tech girls soccer team scored on a free kick midway through the first half and went on to a 1-0 win over McCann Tech on Thursday.
Despite falling to 2-1 on the young season, the Hornets showed plenty of positives against a deep and experienced Tigers squad.
“The girls did really well on defense,” McCann Tech coach Aubrey Thurston said. “I’m very proud of their defense today. We’ve just got to work on some of our offense, getting that in motion.
“The second half of the game, we did really well working with our three strikers.”
Neither team was able to generate much offense in the first 40 minutes.
Westfield Tech ended up with a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal, but the one counted did not come from the run of play.
The Hornets were whistled for a handball about 35 yards from their goal in the 25th minute. Westfield Tech’s Iryna Shvyryd delivered a free kick that curled under the crossbar to break the scoreless tie.
McCann Tech keeper Sofia Francesconi had no play on that ball but did make the three saves she needed to in the first half.
Lazuri Levesque faced a little more pressure in the second half but made nine saves to keep it a one-goal margin.
“We’ve got two new goalies in there, and they’re really both doing really well,” Thurston said of the pair. “They’re both taking charge and trying something new.”
McCann Tech came out with good energy offensively in the second half and got a shot on goal from the top of the 18th from Jordyn Lloyd in the 42nd minute.
Six minutes later, Jazzmyn Valego had a shot on goal after making a run on the right wing. Midway through the half, Valego threatened again, but Westfield Tech’s keeper came off her line to take away the opportunity.
The Tigers’ best chance to extend their lead also came in the middle of the second half when it was awarded another free kick from about the same distance as Shvyryd’s game-winner. This time, it caromed off the crossbar.
Although McCann started to tire a little in the second half – adding to that pressure on Levesque – Thurston was encouraged.
“I am happy with a lot of the things that I saw,” she said. “But there’s a lot of stuff we still need to work on. We see Westfield Tech two more times this season. And our biggest goal is doing better than we did today against them.
“So working on having possession more and working on moving our offense a lot more is definitely going to be one of our goals when we see them again.”
The Hornets (2-1) go to Mount Everett on Monday.