Whitney's 10 Saves Help Greylock Girls Stay Perfect
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- After watching Mount Greylock jump out to a 4-0 lead on Tuesday afternoon, the Lee girls lacrosse team played even the rest of the way before dropping a 16-12 decision on John T. Allen Field.
Emma Polumbo scored six goals, and Julia Whitney made 10 saves to help the Mounties stay unbeaten at 5-0 on the season.
Lee, playing with just one reserve due to school vacation week absences, fell to 2-2 on the season.
“I hate school vacation week,” Lee coach Dave Galisa said with a rueful smile. “I would never deny a student going on vacation, but I hate school vacation week.
“The girls fought very, very hard. They had a little trouble with the cuts from Greylock. But I thought we made some adjustments.”
Polumbo scored twice, and Lauren Aliberti and Sarah Stripp added a goal apiece as the Mounties jumped out to the early 4-0 advantage.
But Annie Macchi scored on a free position to start a 4-1 Lee run. She closed the run with about 13 minutes left in the half to make it 5-4.
Stripp quickly answered with a goal off an Arianna Walden feed from behind the net, and the Mounties rebuilt their lead to five goals, 11-6 by half-time.
But after Polumbo scored on a pass from Stripp to open the second half, Lee scored four straight to get back within two goals when Emma Bartini fed Mikayla DiSantis to make it 12-10 with just more than 10 minutes left.
It was a three-goal game, 15-12, with about 2 minutes left when Taryn Paul saved a free position shot and Lee regained possession. But moments later, Gabriella Orpin scooped a ground ball for Mount Greylock in its defensive zone, and the Mounties tacked on a Polumbo insurance goal to score the win.
“They've got some good midfielders and some strong attack players who are not afraid to go to the goal,” Mount Greylock coach Lindsey von Holtz said of Lee. “And we struggled to slow them down.
“Our transition -- in both directions -- struggled today. We struggled to slow them down, and our passing was not on target today.”
What was clicking for Mount Greylock was its defense, backstopped by Whitney.
“Julia has had a great season so far,” von Holtz said. “For someone who has never played the position before, she's doing really well. Sometimes those free position shots are scarier when your defense isn't helping you. She's made some big saves, and I think she's getting better every game.”
Von Holtz said the first couple of weeks of the season have shown that Berkshire County could be more balanced than ever this spring.
Galisa’s Wildcats figure to be in the mix.
“This was a very good test for us,” he said. “Even though we lost, I think it built up our confidence a little bit that we can go out there and hustle and play, and good things happen.”
Mount Greylock goes to West Springfield on Saturday. Lee is done with vacation week games; its next outing is next Wednesday against Hoosac Valley.