Mount Greylock's Ostheimer Notches 100th Win
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Mount Greylock girls soccer coach Tom Ostheimer did not get 100 career wins by thinking about getting 100 career wins.
So it was no surprise that when he hit that milestone with Tuesday’s 5-0 win over Taconic, he was more interested in thinking about win 101 and beyond.
“It’s definitely an accomplishment, but I feel that when you’re at it for a long time, which I’ve been, since 2007, it’s bound to approach,” Ostheimer said. “It’s good to get it, that milestone, over. But we’ve got a lot more important things to think about this season because we’re having a great season.
“We’re 9-3-1, and we go back into the North Division for four big games. That’s for trying to improve our seed in the tournament, hopefully getting a home game.”
Clara McWeeny scored twice and set up a third goal, and Karen McComish, Caroline Flynn and Ella Dudley each scored as the Mounties won their third straight.
Mount Greylock was 2-2 its first trip through the Berkshire County North Division. On Friday, it gets a chance to avenge one of its losses when travels to Great Barrington to take on Monument Mountain.
It starts the second half of the double round robin assured of a post-season berth in the Western Massachusetts tournament.
“The last two years we weren’t in the tournament,” Ostheimer noted. “It’s good to get back in it, and hopefully we can go far. I think we’ve got a lot of young talent. We’ve got a core of senior girls, seven strong senior girls, and then we’ve got some young talent, so it’s a nice blend.”
Junior Dudley got the scoring started on Monday when she took an McWeeney through ball into the box from the right wing and slipped a shot past Jackie Boateng (10 saves).
Senior Flynn did the honors on the second goal, taking a pass deep on the left wing and beating a pair of defenders before knocking a shot past the diving keeper.
Those two goals came in a five-minute span midway through the first half.
Mount Greylock opened the second half with three goals in seven minutes to put the game away.
“I think they were starting to play with more confidence,” Ostheimer said of the second-half surge. “Some of the tension was off with the two-goal lead. And I thought they started stringing some really nice passes together. It was inside and then outside … and then they converted on the shots. We had some really nice shots, some one-touch shots. There were a lot of things that were happening right.”
Tuesday’s game marked the return of one of Mount Greylock’s most dangerous offensive threats, Madison Ross, who saw limited time off the bench after missing three games due to injury. She did not factor into any of the goals, which made the Mounties’ output of 14 goals in three games even more impressive.
“I just wanted to see what she could do for a few minutes, and then hopefully we get her back full-time for Monument,” Ostheimer said.
“In some ways, I think we spread the ball around a little more because she’s a superstar. She’s a burner up front, and we try to play it to her, maybe a little too often at times. But she’s a weapon, and it will be great to have her back on Friday.”
Taconic (6-8) goes to Mount Everett on Monday.