Patella Backstops Lenox to Shutout Win in Opener

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Sophie Patella stopped 17 shots, and Erin Czelusniak scored a first-half goal to lift the Lenox girls soccer team to a 1-0 win over Pittsfield on opening night for both teams at Berkshire Community College.

 

Lenox coach Kyle Zinchuk said Patella was a steadying presence when some first-game jitters started to creep in for the Millionaires in the second half.

 

"I was kind of hoping we were going to continue to play in the second half a little more like we did toward the end of the first," Zinchuk said. "Our first game, I think some nerves were starting to settle in a little bit at the end there. We started playing a little bit of panic soccer, and Soph came up quite a few times."

 

And one of her biggest plays didn't show up on the stat sheet.

 

"That last through ball [with fewer than two minutes to play],I don't remember who was running on to it, but Soph came out and got that ball with a nice solid boot, which makes me happy on that, too," Zinchuk said.

 

Patella, a sophomore, is a veteran of Lenox's last two runs to the Western Massachusetts Division 4 tournament finals. That's a luxury to have as thee Millionaires break in some new players in the back line.

 

"We're still breaking in a new defensive unit," Zinchuk said. "We have experience back there with Kat [Nichols] and Taylor [Knight], but they're learning to be in the leadership as opposed to hearing it from the seniors.

 

"We're bringing in a few new people into tha area. So there were definitely some growing pains that we had. But considering all that, you can't be upset with shutout."

 

And another veteran, Czelusniak, made sure that it wasn't a scoreless tie by notching just her third career goal.

 

"I haven't had a chance to talk to her, but I did see a nice, big smile," Zinchuk said of the senior. ""I'm sure [Czelusniak] is thrilled about that.

 

"You know, one of the troubles with playing a year behind talents like Nicole Gamberoni and Abby Schilling and that whole group is you don't get nearly as many looks. So it's really good for her to be able to have that opportunity to step up big for us early in the season to start go gain some of that confidence."

 

Lenox (1-0) is back on the road Thursday at Mount Everett.

 

Pittsfield will look for its first win on Thursday at Mount Greylock.

 

Photos from this game here.