Cunningham's Last-Minute Goal Lifts Spartans Past Pittsfield
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – Marti Cunningham scored with less than a minute left to play Thursday to cap a dominant second half and give the Monument Mountain girls soccer team a 2-1 win over Pittsfield.
Cunningham intercepted a clearing pass from a PHS defender about 20 yards from goal on the left wing and took a left-footed strike that curled under the crossbar to give the Spartans (9-4-2) their second straight win.
After a back-and-forth first half that saw the Generals emerge with a 1-0 lead, Monument Mountain took over the game after the break.
The Spartans outshot Pittsfield, 11-1, in the second half to complete their comeback bid.
“We’re always a second half team, and I think we were definitely able to calm down and put the nerves away,” Cunningham said. “Playing a rival like Pittsfield is never easy, and we really just settled in the second half and were able to get it done.
“We’re not usually that slow in the first half. But once we found that groove, it seemed to click, and everything went through.”
The Duquette sisters clicked for Pittsfield in the first half.
Randi centered a ball from the right wing for Jamie in the 37th minute on a counter, and Jamie found the back of the net to put Pittsfield on top, 1-0.
It capped a first half that saw the teams mostly slug it out in the middle of the field with just five shots on goal between them.
Jamie Duquette had the first strong chance of the second half in the 46th minute when she took a through ball on the left wing and got past a defender to fire a shot on frame. But Emily Mead was able to gather in the ball for one of her three saves.
And from then on, the field decidedly tilted the other way.
Jade Nelson was able to cash in for the Spartans in the 51st minute.
The play started with a Marcella Tenuta direct free kick from high on the right wing. Tenuta dropped the ball into the middle of the 18, where Nelson was able to settle and launch a shot past diving PHS keeper Harolyn Castillo.
Castillo was stellar throughout the second half, making nine of her 11 saves in the last 40 minutes of play.
It was looking like her steadfast play might be enough to secure the road point for the Generals until Cunningham’s last minute heroics.
The Spartans will look to finish the regular season with their 10th win on Saturday when they go to Dalton to take on Wahconah.
Pittsfield finishes the regular season with a record of 1-12-3.