Mount Greylock Goes on Scoring Spree Against Central

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – A little more than a week after recording a 1-0 win over Springfield Central in the Eagles’ nest, the Mount Greylock girls soccer team had its most productive day since 2022 in an 8-0 win over Central on John T. Allen Field on Friday.

 

Nora Lopez had a natural hat trick in a 3-0 first half, and Tanley Drake and Mila Marcisz each scored a pair of second half goals as the Mounties stayed unbeaten at 7-0-2 with their fourth straight win.

 

“It was a very different game down there,” Mount Greylock coach Natalie Harris said. “We didn’t really get a rhythm, and they were pretty solid. [Central] played with, I think, six at the back when we were down there. We had a very hard time breaking through that back line.

 

“And so that was something we worked on that we knew we had to focus on going into today – fixing some of those problems where we had a little bit more of a challenge down there. Also being on the [Berte Field] turf was a different game for us.”

 

Central (2-5) also had several players scratched from its lineup and was down to just two subs on the bench.

 

But that alone could not explain the dominance of Mount Greylock, which kept the Eagles locked in their defensive end for about 75 of the game’s 80 minutes.

 

The Mounties got all the offense they needed in the sixth minute of play.

 

Drake sent the ball into the left-wing corner for Maria Welch, who ran it down and delivered a centering pass to Lopez at the top of the 18. Lopez settled the ball and fired a shot into the top of the goal to make it 1-0.

 

Eight minutes later, Lopez scored with an assist from Rowan Apotsos, and Drake fed Lopez for goal No. 3 with 2 minutes, 9 seconds left in the half.

 

Jalaiza Rosario made 14 saves in the first half for Central and finished with 24 stops on a night when she was under near constant fire.

 

Apotsos got into the scoring act four minutes into the second half when she scored an unassisted goal.

 

Less than a minute later, the Mounties earned a corner kick opportunity, and Gigi Nicastro’s shot from the middle of the 18 rebounded off the post to Marcisz, who put the ball in the net to give the Mounties a 5-0 lead.

 

“That’s something we’ve been working on in practice, to grow depth across all of the field and try to utilize people to different strengths, give other people opportunities to play in different positions too, so that we have a different rotation going on, which is helpful for us,” Harris said. “And it’s fresh and more exciting for these guys, too.”

 

Mount Greylock starting keeper Mai O’Connor switched to the field midway through the second half and joined the offensive attack. She and reliever Adele Low did not need to make a save in the Mounties’ seventh shutout this season.

 

Earlier on Friday, the Mounties learned they were ranked No. 10 in the Division 5 statewide in the first MIAA in-season power rankings.

 

Last year, Mount Greylock made its second trip in two years to the D5 state quarter-finals. And, despite some major losses to graduation, the Mounties again are looking like one of the teams to beat at the halfway point of the regular season.

 

“I think the kids have a lot more confidence,” Harris said. “We’re coming together as a group. … We graduated a lot of seniors last year, so this was a different team to build together. And I think they’re getting stronger. We’re working really hard together as a group, and their commitment to each other and getting better and working as a team is 100 percent every single day.”

 

Mount Greylock makes the short trip to North Adams to take on Drury on Saturday morning.