Lopez, Mounties Advance in Division 5

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – For much of the first half on Thursday, 13th-seeded David Prouty gave the No. 4 Mount Greylock girls soccer team all it could handle in their Division 5 Sweet 16 matchup.

 

That all changed in the blink of an eye – or, to be more accurate, a flick of a head.

 

Specifically, it was the forehead of Mounties senior Lucy McWeeny, who headed home a corner kick from Nora Lopez to give their team a 1-0 lead with fewer than two minutes left in the half.

 

That goal started Mount Greylock on its way to a four-goal lead and an eventual 4-1 win over the Panthers.

 

With the victory, the Mounties (18-2) earn the right to host Saturday’s state quarter-final against No. 5 Douglas (11-7-2), a 2-0 winner over Palmer on Wednesday.

 

Lopez went on to assist on two more goals to take over the team lead for assists this season with 12, and she scored one of her own to make it an insurmountable margin midway through the second half.

 

Her first helper came from the left-wing corner into a headwind, right to the edge of the 6 and right where McWeeny was expecting it.

 

“To be completely honest, I was not paying attention to the wind at that point,” Lopez said. “Yesterday, we practiced corners for 30 minutes – just over and over into the box. So I think that was super helpful in finally converting one.

 

“We’ve been close all season, but we’ve only had a couple in. So capitalizing on that chance was super important today.”

 

And it was super deflating for David Prouty, which earned a couple of shots on goal early and kept Mount Greylock off balance for the first 20 minutes or so.

 

Mount Greylock took that momentum through the half-time break and into the second half, scoring twice in the first 13 minutes after the break – both on assists from Lopez to Mila Marcisz.

 

Mounties coach Tom Ostheimer said the set piece goal was good to see, as was the fact that his team was able to overcome a slow start.

 

“We haven’t had a corner kick goal for a while,” he said. “We’ve had many [chances] in games but have come up empty. So it was good to convert, especially late in the half because that was a huge statement goal. It kind of took the wind out of their sails going into the break. And it gave us a lot of confidence.

 

“I was really impressed with the girls in terms of how they came out slow, we were disorganized, it was almost like we were the away team coming off the bus … and we figured it out.”

 

Ostheimer took a timeout in the 10th minute to try to get his team on track. But the game did not turn until David Prouty called a timeout of its own about 10 minutes later.

 

“Yeah, that was a helpful timeout for us,” Ostheimer said with a laugh. “I think halfway through the half, that was when we started playing our game. And then we continued to do that in the second half. We really controlled play. We had a lot of good opportunities, a lot of good through balls, getting on the back end, the crosses. We were just much more dynamic in the middle of the field. We were laying the ball back to our midfielders who then had options.”

 

In the 48th minute, Lopez settled the ball about 25 yards from the goal on the right wing and found Marcisz as an option inside the 18. Marcisz one-timed the ball high into the net for her 12th goal of the season and fifth of the state tournament.

 

Five minutes later, Lopez found Marcisz again, this time with a through ball up the middle.

 

“Mila and I are very close off the field, we have a lot of fun with each other,” Lopez said. “And then during practices, we practice diagonal balls a lot. The past couple of games, we’ve really been connecting in the field, so it’s been really fun to have her finishing those. I’m very proud of Mila for finishing those.”

 

Lopez then finished a chance of her own from about 19 yards out with a shot that deflected off the keeper’s hands and into the back of the net.

 

“[Lopez] had a great season last year, especially the second half of the season,” Ostheimer said of the sophomore. “She’s very mature in terms of her decision making, positioning. She’s a real leader on the team.

 

“And I think when we moved her into the middle, we started establishing a little bit more control – especially with Nora and Belen [Galvez] behind her. I thought Belen really picked it up, in the second half, especially.”

 

At the other end of the field, Mount Greylock keeper Mai O’Connor made four saves to earn the win, allowing just one goal on a counter with 13 minutes left to play.

 

Mount Greylock returns to the state quarter-finals for the second straight year. This time, they get to make their bid for the D5 Final Four on John T. Allen Field.

 

“I love home games,” Lopez said. “I feel like we have a strong student support section.”

 

Photos from this game here.