Mount Greylock Girls Win at Hoosac Valley
ADAMS, Mass. -- The Mount Greylock girls soccer team scored a pair of second half goals Monday to earn a 2-1 win over Hoosac Valley at Renfrew Field.
It was a scoreless first half but not for lack of trying by Mount Greylock (9-4). Right from the opening whistle, the Mounties pushed Hoosac back inside their half and kept them there for most of the game.
Mount Greylock had loads of passion and was passing the ball around very well, but they were unable to find the back of the net. Give Hoosac credit they came into this game with a defensive strategy and for the most part it worked. Hoosac did a good job containing Lily McDermott upfront with some man marking.
“They were marking Lily and that was hard,” Mount Greylock coach Tom Ostheimer said. “They had a couple other girls keeping an eye on here and they really keyed in on her.
“Second half we put Maire Scanlon up front, and between the two of them, it gave the defense more to worry about.”
Hoosac Valley survived that first half pressure, but once the second half adjustments came Mount Greylock inched closer and closer to that inevitable goal.
Eight minutes in, they finally got it off the foot of Lucy Igoe. It all started with a corner kick that Hoosac was unable to fully clear. The ball was then sent back in and Lucy buried it in the corner
Once the Mounties got the goal, they never let off the gas and continued to put the pressure on. Hoosac Valley keeper Emma Meczywor was forced into 11 saves including a nice double save in the second half.
It wasn’t until the 74th minute when Mount Greylock finished up the game with a second goal from McDermott, who won a 50/50 ball on the breakaway and rounded the keeper for the goal. A goal that was well deserved for the work rate she displayed all game long.
The last time these two met it was a 5-0 win for Mount Greylock so it wasn’t all bad news for Hoosac.
“Hoosac played well defensively, and we controlled a good part of the game so to keep it a 0-0 game for so long was nice.” Mount Greylock coach Tom Ostheimer.
The Hurricanes dropped to 2-13 this year after seeing a two-game winning streak snapped. Hoosac Valley coach Kathy Budaj agreed with Ostheimer that the Hurricanes played well.
“It was a great game on Senior Night for the girls,” Budaj said. “We have been playing so much better, and we gave Greylock a great game. There has been such an improvement over the last few weeks , I am very happy for the girls.
“Greylock is a very good team, and the difference in our team from the first time we played them … kudos to the girls for working so hard.”
With this win it closed a two-game losing skid, and the Mounties will look to keep the momentum going as they come down the stretch and get ready for postseason play. Mount Greylock (10-4) will play Lee on Wednesday. Hoosac Valley will look to finish the regular season strong with a game against Ware Thursday.