Pittsfield Girls Rally Past Mount Greylock
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- It was a battle for the second half Thursday afternoon at Kirvin Park after the Pittsfield girls soccer team and Mount Greylock held each other scoreless in the first 40 minutes.
The opportunities were there on both sides in the second half, but it was the Pittsfield Generals who found a way to break the scoreless tie and take a 2-0 win.
It was with 9 minutes, 54 seconds on the clock that Ilana Albert found open space just outside the 18 and fired one at Mount Greylock goalie Tenley Smith.
The shot was high out of Smith's reach and it went in off of the crossbar giving Pittsfield the 1-0 lead with fewer than 10 minutes remaining.
"We had a few breaks, we had a few shots there in the end; if we just could have gotten that first goal," Mount Greylock coach Tom Ostheimer said. "They got a great shot, off the bar and then obviously we were pressing and pulling people up trying to get the equalizer."
That first goal Ostheimer is speaking of was a breakaway that came in the 12th minute from senior forward Haley Reinhard. She broke through Pittsfield's defense and goalie Allie Hunt came out of the net, Reinhard sent the ball towards the goal but it just missed, going too far left.
Greylock challenged Pittsfield more in the second half and had some good opportunities but was unable to capitalize.
The Generals also picked up the pressure in the second half as both teams were looking to break the scoreless match. Fortunately for the home team it came in that 71st minute as Greylock's goalie was coming up with some big saves prior to their goal.
"Today was a real breakout game for her," Ostheimer said. "I think she should feel really good about the way she played and there's a lot of positives to move forward because she did make a lot of really great saves and she came out and Pittsfield has a lot of speed out front and she got to that ball before they did."
"Hopefully we can build on it as a team, we have trouble with Pittsfield; we come down here, we play well, but we tend to come up on the short side."
The Generals were able to add one more goal. It came with just 54 seconds to go after Hannah Dargie sent the ball into the 18; Emily Kestyn was in scoring position and connected with the ball to leave the final at 2-0.
"We were a little sluggish in the beginning of the game," Pittsfield coach Andy Waluszko said. "We didn't get a lot of shots off in the first half and their goalie did a tremendous job in goal she had some great stops and Greylock had some great opportunities at the end there too."
Smith, a sophomore, stepped in net for the Mounties this season, taking over the role of Charlotte Rand, who would have been a returning varsity senior this year, but her family moved during the summer.
Smith has stepped up big so far just four games into the season as Mount Greylock is 2-2.
Pittsfield on the other hand advanced their record to 2-0-1 and recorded its 43rd straight Berkshire County win.
"I've been lucky to have some great players come through and they work hard," Walusko said. "We'll keep it going as long as we can."
Pittsfield has the next week off, not playing until next Saturday against Westfield on the road. Greylock hosts Drury on Monday afternoon.