Skavlem's Hat Trick Leads Mounties into Western Mass Semis
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock girls soccer team Wednesday cruised to an opening round win over Springfield International Charter School, in the WMass Class D quarter-finals 8-0, at home.
It didn’t take long for Mount Greylock (13-0-3) to get on the score sheet with a goal from Lily McDermott, who gathered the ball in the center of the box and placed it in the back of the net. The Mounties weren’t very convincing in the early stages with their passing, but the first goal really put them in overdrive as they continued to dominate from that point on.
“It took us some time to get on track, we were not really hitting our feet with passes so it was nice to get on the board and sort of loosen things up a little bit,” Mount Greylock coach Tom Ostheimer said. “We ended up getting three goals in six minutes which was good.”
Once the Mounties got the first goal, they started stringing passes together with ease using the width of the field to generate most of their offensive power. In the 12th minute, they got their second of the night with a nice cross from Lucy Igoe that was finished off by Jane Skavlem. It only took one more minute for these two to connect again for the third goal of the game.
Mount Greylock kept the in the final third for a majority of the game and never let Springfield ICS any breathing room when trying to clear the ball. Mount Greylock added two more goals in the first half giving them a convincing 5-0 lead.
“We talked about communicating at half, especially on the defensive side, but the key thing was just making sure they kept working. I think they stayed focused and worked on being better at all facets of the game,” Ostheimer said.
Mount Greylock started the second half riding that first half momentum and got their sixth goal from a corner kick that Skavlem finished away with a nice header to give her a hat trick on the night. Mount Greylock added two more before closing out the game.
Mount Greylock continue its unbeaten season and secured its eighth straight win. It will look to take on the winner of Lenox and Hoosac Valley next, two teams they have beaten in the regular season thus far. The Millionaires and Hurricanes play their quarter-final Thursday in Lenox.