Costley's Goal Clinches North Crown for Greylock
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The first time the Mount Greylock boys' soccer team played Lenox this year, the Millionaires ruined the Mounties' perfect season by scoring a goal with five minutes left on the clock to earn a 1-1 tie.Lenox had no such luck the second time around, however, as junior goalkeeper Sean Houston and the rest of the Greylock defense stood pat in a 1-0 home win on Monday night. The victory not only avenged one of Greylock's two ties on the season, but it also clinched the North Division title for Blair Dils' squad. The Mounties (14-0-2) have now won the North title outright for three consecutive years after sharing it with the Millionaires (8-3-3) back in 2008.
""The boys were very pleased to avenge the earlier season tie with Lenox," Dils said. "There was no letdown in the final minutes tonight. Winning the North for the third straight year outright is a tremendous accomplishment for the seniors. It's especially satisfying to earn the title by beating our main rival for the past four years. To win the title with one league game remaining speaks to just how consistent this team is. They show up to compete at the highest level no matter the quality of the opponent."
Senior capain Luke Costley scored the game's only goal for Greylock in the 30th minute. Junior Nathan Majumder helped set up the goal by breaking through the Millionaires' defense and shooting a ball off the knees Lenox keeper Chris Bravo (seven saves), who had charged out to the 18-yard box to make the save. The ball bounced out to Costley, who one-timed a shot back into the open net.
"Luke's goal was well deserved," Dils said. "He was the man of the match by far, and without his energy and determination in the first half, we would have been in a scoreless game. After Majumder's shot, the ball caromed right to Luke, who hit a screamer into the upper ninety of the open goal."
The contest was a fairly even affair, with both teams taking six shots and the Mounties earning a 9-6 edge in corner kicks. Despite pitching a shutout for the entire second half, Dils said his team needs to find a way to close out games a little better, especially with a talented Pittsfield club coming to town on Thursday. The Generals are the only other team besides Lenox to play Greylock to a draw this season.
"Despite the victory, we played ugly in the second half, especially the final twenty minutes," Dils said. "We need to get our legs back under us in the next few days, so we can prepare to play a full 80 minutes against a very tough Pittsfield team. We're well aware that they're playing with lots of confidence right now."
Houston had one of his busiest games of the year, posting a season-high eight saves to record his eighth shutout of the season. His goals against average is now a mere 0.6 goals per game.
"Sean was very good with his decision-making again," Dils said. "He makes it look easy at times, which is the sign of a high-level player."
The game against Pittsfield is at home and starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday night.