McDermott Scores Pair as Mount Greylock Downs Drury
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Six different teams have not been able to score against the Drury girls soccer team this fall.
Mount Greylock’s Lily McDermott did it nine minutes into Tuesday’s meeting.
Then, later in the first half, she did it again.
Lucy Igoe added a goal midway through the second half for the Mountis to preserve a 3-1 win in a battle of unbeatens on John Allen Field.
Although Mount Greylock snapped Druy’s nine-game winning streak and scored three times as many goals as the Blue Devils (10-1) have allowed all season, the Mounties came out of the game knowing they had been tested.
“We’re up 2-0 thinking we’re kind of comfortable and then, as you always say, a two-goal lead is really dangerous,” Mount Greylock coach Tom Ostheimer said. “They get that goal, and then they ring a ball off the crossbar and another one, I think, off the post, and it was scary.
“They definitely exposed our defense more than quite a few teams we’ve played this year.”
Mount Greylock (10-0-3) dominated the first 40 minutes, outshooting the visitors by a margin of 10-0 before half-time.
The first goal came off one of Drury keeper Brooke Bishop’s 13 saves. Jane Skavlem started the play with a shot from the right wing that Bishop was able to stop, but the rebound went directly to McDermott, who finished to put her team ahead, 1-0.
The Mounties kept the pressure on, putting a number of testers on Bishop and just missing on a Skavlem free kick from 25 yards out that went just over the crossbar in the 33rd minute.
A minute later, Mount Greylock finally was able to double its lead.
Maggie Brody sent a pass through the middle of the field for McDermott, who beat one defender and split two more on a 35-yard run into the 18 before putting the ball inside the far post to make it 2-0 with 6 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first half.
The Mounties went into the break aware that it could not afford to let up.
“We just kind of said at half-time that we need to score, right away,” Igoe said. “We said even before they scored, ‘We need a third goal because a two-goal lead is really tight.’ “
Things got even tighter for the Mounties in the 53rd minute when Madison Saunders scored for Drury to make it a one-goal game with 27-minute left.
“We talked about making some adjustments,” Drury coach Maria Bartini said. “We talked about what we needed to do a little differently. And the girls made those adjustments. As a coach, that’s what you want: come up with a strategy, suggest it to the girls, and then they’re able to implement it.
“I’m really proud of the effort they put in. Mount Greylock is a great team. So it was really good.”
Drury generated three shots on frame in the second half, in addition to the near misses that Ostheimer mentioned.
At the other end, Bishop stopped five more shots in the last 40 minutes. But midway through the half, Mount Greylock’s Molly Sullivan sent a cross from the right wing through the 18, and Igoe was on the other end to score her seventh goal of the season.
McDermott, who brought her season total to seven goals on Tuesday, did not finish the contest after a collision in the final minute in the final third. But after getting treated with some ice, she was able to walk off the field, giving the Mounties hope she could be available for a Friday showdown at Grieve League rival Palmer, owner of a 2-2 tie when the teams met in Williamstown last month.
Drury heads back into Pioneer South Division play on Friday when it hosts Hopkins Academy.
Video: Mount Greylock’s Lucy Igoe talks about the importance of Tuesday’s battle with North County rival Drury.
Video: Mount Greylock’s Lily McDermott scores one of her two goals in Tuesday’s win.
Video: Mount Greylock’s Lucy Igoe scores the third goal of Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Drury.