Monument Mountain Posts Shutout on the Road
ADAMS, Mass. – Scoring seven goals in its season opener on Tuesday was nice.
But for Monument Mountain girls soccer coach Miguel Silva, there were some things to clean up going into Thursday’s contest at Hoosac Valley.
The Spartans were spotless in a 4-0 win to improve to 2-0 on the young season.
Iris Firth scored a pair of first-half goals and added an assist, and Mabel Cooney had a goal and an assist as the visitors outshot the Hurricanes, 16-1.
“I’m more happy with the way that we played today [than the 11 goals in the Spartans’ first two games],” Silva said. “Today, we actually did all the simple things we’re supposed to do. They came in, they didn’t take this team lightly. They played correctly – two touch, they were moving the ball from side to side, opening up a lot of spaces, creating a lot of offense, making really great runs.
“So, I’m really more happy about today than just scoring 11 goals in general. That’s good. I like it. But I think that the way that we played today is something we can really build on for the rest of the season.”
The Spartans built their two-goal advantage on Thursday during a flurry of activity in front of Hoosac Valley keeper Emma Meczywor in the middle of the first half.
In the 13th minute, Firth scored with an assist from Cooney from the middle of the 18. Mallory Lucey started the play for the game-winning goal with a cross from the left wing.
Less than a minute later, Jade Nelson had a try from the middle of the 18 off a corner kick that went just high of the crossbar.
Then, still in the 14th minute, Nelson set up Firth four her fourth goal of the season to make it 2-0.
For good measure, two minutes later, Lucille Dohoney fired a shot that Meczywor leapt up to save, tipping the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.
Hoosac Valley coach Lindsay McGinnis decided it was time to regroup
“That was why we took that quick timeout, to reset our positioning,” McGinnis said. “We saw what we needed to do and had to make that quick change.
“We know that we’re a young team, and we know what we’re going up against. And sometimes we just need to reset before we can move forward.”
The Hurricanes did a better job of limiting the quality chances for Monument Mountain over the second 20 minutes of the game. But the Spartans continued to keep their hosts pinned in their end of the field.
“We definitely were not happy about giving up three goals to Pittsfield,” Silva said. “So our objective is to keep clean sheets and to maintain the zero. So the fact that we were able to do it is a really good sign for us.
“It gives us a good base to work off so we can continue to do that and be a lot more solid defensively.”
Starting keeper Jaziyah Forte did not see a shot on goal in the first 40 minutes. Hannah Boino came in to start the second half and made the one save she needed to make to preserve the shutout.
At the other end, Monument’s offense generated a goal off a set piece early in the second half to extend its lead. Cooney scored with an assist from Firth to make it 3-0.
And the Spartans turned up the pressure from there, generating 10 of their 16 shots on goal in the second half.
Meczywor made it tough to finish, adding another leaping save in the second half and coming off her line a couple of times to deny unmarked chances that ended in collisions.
“I am so sad to see her go,” McGinnis said of Meczywor. “She’s a senior. And we are going to need to start training someone soon to replace her. But it’s going to be an extremely tough loss. She is definitely our MVP right now, for sure.
“She’s confident. She’s confident in what she does. You do see keepers come out like that sometimes. Emma doesn’t always come out like that. But when she knows she needs to, she can do it.”
Lily Haskins-Vaughan capped the scoring with a nifty one-timer off a pass from Sophia Castro in the 73rd minute.
Monument Mountain (2-0) goes to Drury on Monday.
Hoosac Valley (0-2) is at Springfield Central on Monday.
Photos from this game to come.