Mount Greylock Advances Past Drury
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Mount Greylock girls soccer team took down Drury in the quarter-finals of the Western Massachusetts Class C Tournament, 3-1, on Saturday.
Mount Greylock (11-2-2) came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed going up against the No. 8 seed Drury who they beat by a combined 14-1 in the two games they played in the regular season.
Drury showed fight in the early stages of the game winning the first good chance for either team in the fourth minute. It came from a counterattack and a big switch to Megan McGrath who tried to catch the keeper out of position with a high shot, but Mai O’Connor was able to grab it.
The first 10 minutes of the game was a battle in the middle of the field with both teams trying to take control. It wasn’t until the 12th minute when Mount Greylock finally started to get going with some nice passing up the right side that pulled the Drury keeper Addisyn Shepard out of position, allowing Nora Lopez to cross the ball to teammate Mila Marcisz, who calmly passed it into the net for the opening goal.
The Mounties built off of that goal and continued their pressure in the final third, not allowing Drury any space to get out. After winning a couple corner kicks in a row Nora Lopez was able to find Maria Welch for the second goal of the game giving them a second goal in less than three minutes.
“I think we played well, Drury came out a little more organized today, and they were pressing us early so that was a bit of a surprise, but our girls worked really hard to maintain our game plan and we did a great job finishing it off,” Mount Greylock head coach Natalie Harris said.
After the two goals Mount Greylock continued to dominate pressure the rest of the half racking up a total of eight shots in the first half.
The second half saw a similar pattern as the first with Drury trying to assert itself early as they tried to claw back from the two goal deficit. You could see the Drury pressure building with more forward play but Mount Greylock was able to withstand the pressure and use it to their advantage with wider gaps in the defense to attack for breakaways.
Mount Greylock got its third goal of the day in the 53rd minute from an awkward play by the Drury defender who went to clear the ball but sliced it off her foot and went backwards off the post and into the net. It was an unfortunate bounce and the wind took it right into the net.
Drury didn’t hang its heads, and after a timeout in the 70th minute Drury found its first and only goal of the game. After a nice double save from Mai O’Connor, Madison Saunders was able to find Ella Bond who placed it in the corner to bring the deficit to 3-1. Drury ended up with six shots in the second half, forcing Mai O’Connor into four really good saves all within the last 10 minutes of the game.
Mount Greylock (12-2-2) was able to withstand the pressure only allowing the one goal and moving on in the Western Mass tournament, where it will face either Greenfield or Smith Voc, who play their quarter-final on Monday.
Drury (5-9-2) will be matched up with a team to be announced in the consolation round.