'Canes Make Good Progress in loss to St. Joe's
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Sometimes a team can learn an awful lot about itself in defeat.The Hoosac Valley boys' soccer team might have lost to St. Joesph's 2-1 on the road on Tuesday night, but Hurricanes head coach Nate Girard was more than pleased with his team's effort. Coming off of a lackluster 10-0 defeat at Mount Greylock on Friday, Hoosac worked much harder and a lot more together in a narrow loss to the Crusaders (3-2).
"We played very well today and 75 percent of the players came together and left it all out on the field," Girard said. "St. Joe's had very few chances but capitalized on the ones they did have."
The Hurricanes (4-0) got a big lift from a fresh face. Freshman David Haley, who was brought up from the JV team this week, scored his first varsity goal in the 28th minute of play, finishing off a cross from senior Tyler Bissaillon in front of the net.
"I brought up David for the game because he had a stellar week at practice," Girard said. "David was the smallest player on the field, and the St. Joe's players let him know that, as he was getting pushed around quite regularly. He still managed to squeeze his way in front of the net to put it in on a great cross from Tyler."
Despite holding a 10-3 edge in shots in the first half, the 'Canes went into the break tied 1-1 as a result of Jongmun Hong's goal with seven minutes remaining in the half. Girard's squad outshot the Crusaders 9-2 in the second half, but Hong would strike again, netting the game winner on a pass from Eduardo Salles halfway through the second half.
"We had a total of 19 shots that were from everywhere on the field," Girard said. "Unfortunately, none of them were very challenging to the keeper. We had a couple of solid chances we just didn't get shots away on. I have to give a solid tip of the hat to St. Joe's because they did finish when the opportunity arose. It was by far our best showing to date this season, though, and we look forward to our challenge on Friday."
Matt Begrowicz made several late saves to preserve the win. Junior Tom Galisa made three stops in net for Hoosac, which next plays at rival Drury at 4:15 p.m. on Friday.