Lenox Boys Top Mount Everett on Senior Night

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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LENOX, Mass. -- The first time the Lenox boys soccer team played Mount Everett this season, the Millionaires could not buy a win.
 
On Monday, Lenox beat the Eagles, 2-1, for its fourth win in five outings.
 
Ian Bridges and senior Michael Ward each scored a goal as Lenox improved to 4-9-1 with a win on Senior night.
 
Lenox controlled play most of the night and had a 2-0 lead until the 76th minute, when Diego Cruz was able to get the Eagles on the board.
 
Mount Everett earned a 1-1 tie against Lenox when the teams met back in September. Monday marked Lenox’s second straight win against their South County rivals.
 
That tie in Sheffield came during an 0-8-1 stretch to begin the season for Lenox.
 
“This one was so much more electric for me and my fellow senior, Sam Schnopp, along with the rest of the team,” Ward said. “We played great. At the home field, obviously, it definitely brings us to life more than being on a 40-plus minute bus ride. So, it’s definitely more of a fun game here.”
 
Bridges got the fun started early when he scored with an assist from Michael Butler in the fourth minute.
 
Midway through the first half, Ward fired a shot from the top of the 18 that ripped off Mount Everett keeper Michael Devoti’s hands and into the goal to make it 2-0.
 
While Lenox kept Mount Everett pinned in its end of the field most of the opening half, the Eagles threatened a couple of times on counters. Jordi Peck had a dangerous chance on a run up the left wing in the 12th minute that forced a save from Lenox keeper Shaler Larmon (three saves). Cruz had a shot on goal after a run up the right wing six minutes later.
 
At the other end, the Millionaires continued to keep up the pressure on Devoti, who stopped 21 shots to keep the Eagles close. 
 
“Oh my gosh, that keeper is a great keeper,” Ward said of Devoti. “Definitely him and [Wahconah’s Noah Kelly] are the top two keepers in the county, and he definitely kept them in a tough game tonight.”
 
Lenox coach Andy Schnopp has been glad to see his team playing tough down the stretch as it tries to earn berths in next week’s Western Massachusetts Class C tournament and the state Division 5 tourney.
 
“It’s been really good,” Schnopp said of Lenox’s current 4-1 run. “They boys have really stepped up their game, and we’re playing like a team. It’s great.”
 
Lenox goes to Wahconah on Tuesday and Monument Mountain on Thursday to wrap up the regular season.
 
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