McWeeny's Two Assists Lift Mount Greylock Girls
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- With the first half winding down and her team up by a goal, Mount Greylock senior Clara McWeeny created a prime scoring chance on Sunday evening.
She carried the ball up the middle of the field through the middle of the Lenox defense and into the top of the 18. She looked to be in a perfect position to double the Mounties' lead.
And she sent the ball to the right wing, where Maggie Brodie finished past a diving keeper to make it 2-0 in an eventual 2-1 win for Mount Greylock.
"Clara gave it up, and she's been doing that all season," Mount Greylock coach Tom Ostheimer said. "I don't know how many assists she has, but probably over 10. She's been playing very unselfishly. Two assists, tonight, and that's been our season. She had five in one game.
"That's a ball that most people take a shot, and it gets blocked or saved, and she made the pass to Maggie, who made a nice, poised shot to the side of the keeper. That was a lot easier than Clary trying to go one-on-one."
McWeeny's first assist on Sunday came on a corner kick in the eighth minute. Her entry from the left wing found Molly Sullivan on the far post, and Sullivan used her body to put the ball in the net for a 1-0 lead.
Lenox (0-2-1) had several chances to get the equalizer in the moments that followed.
In the 11th minute, a Mount Greylock back was whistled for a handball in the 18, and the Millionaires were awarded a penalty kick that ended up just wide.
Eight minutes later, a Lenox forward had an open look at the goal off a corner kick but knocked the ball off frame.
Then just before the mid-half mask break, Lenox's Mary Elliot took a shot on goal on a counter. Mount Greylock keeper Delaney Babcock (six saves) got her fingertips on the ball but it went behind her. Somehow, Babcock recovered and scooped the ball out of the goal mouth to keep it a 1-0 game.
Lenox's offense finally broke through in the 47th minute.
Aliza Munch set up Solia Herndon-Schmid, who cut Mount Greylock's lead in half.
Around the 68-minute mark, the Millionaires had a couple of back-to-back chances to even the score. Once, it was Herndon-Schmid and once it was Molly Knight putting a shot on goal from the left wing. Both times, Babock made the stop.
Mount Greylock nearly re-established its two-goal lead in the closing minutes when Jacqueline Wells got behind the defense on a run up the middle. But Gabriella Hall made a kick save for her fifth stop of the game.
Ostheimer was not surprised the Mounties (6-1) got nearly all they could handle from Lenox.
"We're very evenly matched with them," Ostheimer said. "They're very strong in the middle. They've got speed up front and speed in the back. They matched with Jackie and Elizabeth [Dupras], or at least, they couldn't get the edge on them and turn it into the middle of the box.
"Last fall, it was our Senior Night when we were playing club soccer, and we got up on these guys, 2-0, and gave up three goals in the second half. It's a different season, but we remembered that."
Mount Greylock continues this Fall 2 season on Wednesday when it visits Taconic. On Thursday, it welcomes Wahconah for a rematch of their thriller from earlier this month, a 2-1 Wahconah win.
Lenox is scheduled to go to Monument Mountain on Tuesday.