Mount Everett Girls Blank Drury
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Goals have been hard to come by for the Mount Everett girls soccer team this season.
But the Eagles have at least one goal in tact. They are unbeaten in the month of October.
Serena Battachi scored in the 54th minute Tuesday to give Mount Everett (2-6-1) a 1-0 win over Drury on John J. DelNegro Field.
Eagles senior Logan Rathbun received the ball in the middle of the field and carried it forward about 5 yards before lofting a through ball to the left side for Battachi.
The freshman ran under the ball, took a touch with her head down to her feet and curled a shot inside the near post to elude Drury keeper Mackenzie Dobbert (eight saves).
It was one of many dangerous chances generated by Mount Everett on Tuesday but just the team’s third goal of the season and first in its last six games.
“We’ve been focusing on offense, and I think it really -- I don’t want to jinx it, but I think it finally translated on the game field,” Mount Everett coach Jessica Murtagh said. “We finally played with some confidence.”
The Blue Devils (1-9) bounced back nicely and gained a little confidence of their own after taking a 12-0 drubbing at Mahar the last time out.
Coach Mary Jane Rumbolt continues to see improvement from her squad, which includes no seniors, five freshmen and five seventh- and eighth-graders.
“They're coming along,” she said. “Definitely, we have to grow. This is definitely a growing season with so many younger girls coming in to play. These girls are going to stay together next year. So what you see them improving on this year they'll be able to keep with them for next year and keep moving forward.”
In the near term, Rumbolt can look forward to the Blue Devils getting two more shots against Mount Everett and another try against Taconic, a team that beat Drury, 3-2, in North Adams last week.
The Eagles will look to build on Tuesday’s success on Friday when they take on McCann Tech in a rematch from their Sept. 15 meeting, a 1-0 Mount Everett win.
“They're capable of doing a lot better than what our record shows, and it seems like they're starting to understand that,” Murtagh said. “We have a nice stretch of home games coming up, which is always good.
“We're excited.”