Saints Hand Hornets First Tri-County Loss
WESTFIELD, Mass. -- The McCann Tech girls' soccer team was due for a down day in Tri-County League play. Unfortunately for the Hornets, their first league loss of the season came in a game in which they could have clinched the division title outright.Ariana Pluron got on the other end of a direct kick in the 22nd minute of play to lift Saint Mary's to a 2-1 win at home and pull the Saints into a first-place tie with McCann. Last month in North Adams, the two teams played to a scoreless draw in a game shortened to just one half because of worsening field conditions. The Hornets (9-5-1, 9-1-1) will now likely have to win their three remaining league games to earn a share of the division crown.
St. Mary's caught Mike Dowling's club off guard early, receiving a goal from Alison Stoviewicz less than two minutes into the start of the game. Junior Mary Nguyen tied things up for the Hornets five minutes later, but Pluron finished off a feed from Emily Brown (two assists) with 17:53 left in the first half for the game-deciding goal. Despite a few quality opportunities in the second half, McCann was unable to net the equalizer past Saints' keeper Christy Watson, who finished with 10 saves on the day.
Senior goalie Becky Daniels stopped seven shots for the the Hornets, who were narrowly outshot 12-10 in the match.
McCann will next host Pathfinder for its Senior Day on Thursday. Gametime is scheduled for 4 p.m.