Blue Devils Post Fourth Straight Shutout
CHESHIRE, Mass. – Izaiah Grandchamp scored twice, and the Drury boys soccer team had its best offensive output in seven games as it beat Pioneer Valley, 3-0, at Hoosac Valley High School on Thursday.
While goals have not been abundant for the Blue Devils since a 9-1 win over Libertas back on Sept. 16, its defense has been rock solid, allowing just six goals in 11 games this fall.
Thursday’s shutout for keeper Max Soto was his fourth straight as Drury improved to 7-3-1, two wins away from a berth in the Division 5 State Tournament.
Drury has seven shutouts in all this season and has not allowed more than two goals in any one game.
Blue Devils senior Julian Feliciano, who took a break from soccer last fall to play in the first year of Drury’s cooperative team at Hoosac Valley, returned this season as the two schools joined for a boys soccer co-op for the first time.
He said the defense, which allowed three goals in its first two games, shifted its alignment to help the squad give up just three over the next nine.
“We started off our formation with a 3-4-3 because we wanted to be more aggressive,” Feliciano said. “But as time’s gone on, we’re realizing that we give up the midfield a lot, and if we’re able to cover the midfield with diamonds, that’s good for us.
“We control the play. We have our midfielders, Diego [Luna] and Isaac [Vasquez] controlling the midfield all the time. Their dribbling skills are amazing.”
Luna had a pair of assists on Thursday, setting up Noah Arnold for a goal and Grandchamp for his second of the game.
Grandchamp’s first goal came in the ninth minute of play. He played a rebound off the keeper of a Landon Langenback shot to put Drury ahead, 1-0, early.
It took just five minutes for goal No. 2, when Luna centered the ball to Arnold, who converted for his third goal of the season.
Drury dominated in all phases against a Pioneer Valley team that was short-handed with just one substitute available.
The Blue Devils put 15 shots on Panthers keeper Ethan Burgh, and Drury found the crossbar a couple of times – once on a counter midway through the first half and again on a hard shot by Luna midway through the second.
In between, Grandchamp picked up his fourth goal of the season, striking from 20 yards out with an assist from Luna to push the lead to 3-0.
“We were the better team today,” Drury coach John Jacobbe said. “I would have liked to see us put a little more in the goal, but we did what we had to do. There were no hard fouls. No one got injured. We won the game. We just want to keep getting better and better.
“We want to beat the teams where we’re a little bit more talented and find a way to beat the teams that might have more talent than us.”
One way to do that is to limit other teams’ chances, where Drury has excelled of late. Soto has made just 11 saves in his current four-game shutout streak; his four on Thursday were the most during that stretch.
“Max, a senior keeper, was just solid in goal,” Jacobbe said. “He owns the box for the most part. He made a mistake in the first half, and he just made a heck of a save to cover up his mistake.”
His presence in goal backstops a strong defensive core for the Blue Devils.
“We have Julian, and I moved Paul [George] back on defense,” Jacobbe said. “He played some there for last year, but both of them are strong up the middle. Abram [Payton] our right defender, came over in the co-op team and just solidified the right side. He just plays hard every minute and every play, and if he makes a mistake, he recovers.
“Then we have left defenders, Alex Bergeron and Jack George, have been splitting time there, and they’re holding their own, too.”
Drury steps out of league play on Tuesday with a Senior Day game on John J. Del Negro Field against Bennington, Vt.’s, Mount Anthony.
Photos from this game to come.