Drury Boys Top Hoosac Valley for First Win

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Drury boys soccer team Tuesday scored three goals in a six-minute span en route to a 3-1 win over Hoosac Valley.
 
The Blue Devils responded after the visiting Hoosac Valley drew first blood by generating their best offensive day and first win of the season.
 
Hoosac Valley went up 1-0 in the eighth minute when Isaac Hermann put home a rebound after Evan Norcross sent a cross into the 18 from deep on the right wing.
 
Up to that point, the Blue Devils had the better of the play but had not generated any quality chances.
 
“I don’t know if [Hoosac’s goal] woke us up,” Drury coach John Jacobbe said. “We didn’t have a great warm-up. We had picture day today. That was a kick we shouldn’t have given up early. [Keeper Kevin Chen] could have had a ball in his hands, but he kicked it out, and it’s a save he’d like to gather up and hold, and he lost it and then he jumped on a loose ball.
 
“The way we responded was good. If you want to call it a wake-up call, you can. But it set the tone that we better come and play, and we did.”
 
The tying goal came with 17 minutes, 46 seconds on the clock.
Zachary Davignon sent a ball into the 18 from high on the right wing that Hunter Sarkis was able to win against two defenders. Sarkis then beat a diving Lucas Waterman (four saves) to make it 1-1.
 
With 16:40 left in the half, Sarkis set up Caleb Besaw for a blast from outside the 18 that gave Drury the lead.
 
Scott McGuire Jr. added some insurance less than five minutes later with his first goal of the season.
 
Hoosac Valley (0-4-2) continued to have trouble finding the back of the net. The Hurricanes, coming off their highest scoring game of the year, a 2-2 tie at Mohawk Trail, scored just their fourth goal in six games on Tuesday.
 
Perhaps the most frustrating moment of the day came in the second half, when Norcross sent a ball into the box from deep on the right wing and three different Hurricanes came within inches of getting a toe on the ball inside the 18.
 
“The other day [against Mohawk], we left about eight goals on the field in a 2-2 draw,” Hoosac Valley coach Patrick Mahoney said. “So, it’s been a bit of a theme that we’ve been trying to work on.
 
“Evan gives a great service and three guys on the line … and that’s not the first time that’s happened. So it’s been a bit of a thorn in our side this season. We’ve left a lot of goals out there on the different pitches we’ve played on.”
 
Nevertheless, the Hurricanes were putting enough pressure on Drury to give Jacobbe pause in the middle of the second half.
 
Lucky for him, Mahoney decided to pause the game with a timeout that allowed the Blue Devils to reset their defense.
 
“I was just going to call timeout to settle my kids down,” Jacobbe said. “I was going to reshape our team and play a little defensively because we were giving up to much.
 
“I was going to call timeout right when he did because we were in a little hectic space. I think he called timeout because his guys needed a blow because they were working hard, and they were short-handed today.”
 
Chen finished with five saves for Drury (1-2-3), which goes to Wahconah on Thursday.
 
Hoosac Valley goes to McCann Tech on Wednesday.
 
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