McCann Tech Girls Battle Ware to Scoreless Tie
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The McCann Tech girls soccer team has had better results on the scoreboard this fall, but its coach could not have felt much better after a 0-0 tie against Ware on Friday afternoon.
"This was one of the better physical, complete, hustling games that we've played," Mike Dowling said. "They didn't stop. They played the whole game. I think we had the better of the play."
The visitors earned a slight, 11-10, advantage in shots on goal, but McCann Tech had the more dangerous chances and spent most of the 80 minutes in Ware's end of the field.
Camryn Belisle created a number of prime scoring chances on the wings.
Her best opportunity of the first half came on a cross into the box from Addie Hayer on the right wing. Belisle's shot in the 32nd minute was just wide of the goal.
Early in the second half, Belisle made a dangerous run up the left wing for a try that went just wide of the far post.
In the 68th minute, she had a shot from the top of the 18 against a charging Ware keeper that was saved for a McCann Tech corner kick.
Ware's best scoring opportunities came in the final minute of each half. Each time, the Hornets' Keira Lennon was equal to the task.
In the closing seconds of the first half, a Ware forward won a 50/50 ball just outside the 18 and fired a shot that Lennon came off her line to save as the buzzer sounded.
In the final minute of the match, Ware earned a corner kick from the right wing. Lennon fought through traffic to punch the ball out of danger, and the Hornets' defense was eventually able to clear the zone.
The stalemate gives McCann Tech an 8-4-2 record while it awaits word on whether it will have a berth in either the Western Massachusetts or State Vocational tournaments.
Dowling was glad to see his team end the season with a strong performance, if not a positive result, in a game that was a late addition to McCann Tech's schedule.
"Very impressed with the passing, the hustle, the physicality," he said. "We haven't had that this year.
"They're really hungry for the State Voc tournament. This was definitely a step up. It was a great game to have at the end of the season. No blowout. They didn't kill us. We didn't kill them. It was just back and forth, knock down, drag out.
"And it got my team a lot better today."
Video: McCann Tech’s Keira Lennon makes a save at the end of the first half of Friday’s 0-0 tie.
Video: McCann Tech’s Camryn Belisle gets off a shot on goal in Friday’s tie with Ware.