Lenox Girls Come Back to Win at Mount Everett
SHEFFIELD, Mass. -- In a confusing and crowded sequence with time running down on Saturday afternoon, Lenox’s Solia Herndon-Shmid somehow found Aliza Munch.
And Munch found the goal for the game-winner in the Millionaires’ 3-1, come-from-behind win over Mount Everett.
“I feel like we had possession a lot, we were in their box, it was just bouncing around,” Munch said. “A bunch of people kept getting stuff on it, but we couldn’t quite get it in. Finally, there were just a few rebounds, and I was able to just get it in.”
The winning play started with Molly Knight’s corner kick from the right wing side.
The Eagles appeared to be able to clear the ball out of danger on the other side of the 18, but Lenox’s Aidan Burns stole the ball and passed to Mary Elliot. Elliot got it to Madison Digrigoli, who found Munch, who took it into the box.
From there, it was a scramble with multiple touches before it got back to Munch, and she snuck a shot between the diving Mount Everett keeper and the near post to give Lenox a 2-1 lead with 5 minutes, 39 seconds on the clock.
Elliot set up Herndon-Schmid for an insurance goal in the final minute of play to provide the final margin of victory.
For most of the game, it looked like the Eagles might get a rare win against the perennially tough Millionaires.
Mount Everett (4-2-1) struck in the second minute of play. Allison Steuernagle volleyed home a corner kick from sister Emily Steuernagle, threading her shot between Lenox’s Ella Hall (three saves) and the post to make it 1-0.
Lenox (4-2) controlled the rest of the fist half, keeping the Eagles pinned in their end of the field and putting five first-half shots on Goewey (10 saves).
One of the best chances came in the 33rd minute, when Elliot cleared a ball out of Lenox’s 18 after a Mount Everett corner kick and made a run all the way down the field on the left wing before firing a shot on frame. Goewey was able to leap up and punch the ball over the crossbar for a Lenox corner kick.
Despite all the pressure they applied in the first 40 minutes, the Millionaires with nothing on the scoreboard and something to talk about.
“I tried to tell them: Trust the process, and the goal will come,” Lenox coach Brian Seminara said. “I thought we possessed well, we played well. Maybe we needed a little more patience in the final third on when we shoot, when we don’t shoot. I tried to remind them, she’s a good goalie. These 30-yard lob shot are not going to get you anywhere, and you have to work to get a goal.
“And finally one came.”
That equalizer came off the toe of Jenny Collins on a run from the right side in the 43rd minute. Elliot had the assist on her way to a two-point day; she leads Lenox with five goals and five assists this fall.
Lenox Monday returns to league play with a game against Central Division foe Chicopee.
Mount Everett Monday hosts Pioneer South opponent Hopkins Academy.
“The girls keep working hard,” Mount Everett coach Joshua King said. “This next week is going to be a good test for us just because we have Lenox today, and we’re going to have Hopkins on Monday and then we get Drury again on Wednesday.”
The Blue Devils beat Mount Everett, 4-0, in the teams’ season opener.
“It will be a good week for us to see where we’re at, see where we’re improving, see what we need to work on.”