Drury Girls Drop 1-0 Decision in State Tournament

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Zoe Barnett scored in the 56th minute Tuesday to give the David Prouty girls soccer team a 1-0 win over Drury in the Division 5 State Tournament.

 

But the Blue Devils, who were outshot by a margin of 9-4 in the first half, battled to the end, earning a narrow edge in shots on goal after half-time and generating a number of strong scoring chances after falling behind.

 

“I think when we called that timeout, we had a conversation about how we worked so incredibly hard all season, we played our game against so many different types of teams,” Drury coach Keanna Rudd said. “We continue to just play our game. That’s what we said: ‘You play hard. You play as best you can.’

 

“And that’s all we can ever ask of you. Scoreboards happen. Games happen. But we’re so incredibly proud of the players they’ve grown to be.”

 

And with just one senior graduating from this year’s squad, the Blue Devils have more potential for growth down the road.

 

Of course, that one senior will be missed, and Megan McGrath showed time and again on Tuesday how much of a force she can be on offense.

 

McGrath had two shots on goal in the final eight minutes of the first half as the Blue Devils pushed to break the scoreless tie.

 

But the Panthers’ defense, like Drury’s, held strong.

 

The Blue Devils then opened the second half by earning a direct free kick from about 25 yards out in the 44th minute. McGrath’s try from the left wing went just high, keeping the game scoreless.

 

She had another shot on goal about four minutes later, but it was the visitors who finally found the back of the net.

 

Lillian Spahn sent a pass into the 18 for Barnett, who chipped a shot over a drawn out Addisyn Shepard to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead with 24 minutes, 52 seconds to play.

 

It was the only time in the game David Prouty was able to solve Shepard, who was a rock with 15 saves.

 

“She’s a phenomenal player,” Rudd said of Shepard. “She’s strong. She is the glue of this team. She holds them together. She keeps a good attitude back there, and she is so, so confident. And that’s something we’ve talked about a ton.

 

“Addie has kept us in so many games. She’s a great leader, and the confidence growth is incredible.”

 

In the 69th minute, McGrath made a run up the left wing, created some space against a couple of Panthers defenders and hit a left-footed shot that went just high of the goal. Six minutes later, she took a pass from Ella Bond and made another run down that wing, this time firing an on-target shot for Drury’s final look at the goal.

 

The Blue Devils finish the season with a 6-11-2 record, but that came after an 0-5-1 start. And their level of competition in the rugged Grieve Division was a big reason why they earned the No. 15 seed in D5 and a chance to play at home on Tuesday.

 

“Our record started pretty tough at the beginning of the season for sure,” Rudd said. “But we had this pickup with our team. We just started playing hard and for each other. I think we started to get a team mentality. We got into a groove.

 

“This team is very young. So they’re still kind of jelling and mixing. A lot of our girls were on our junior varsity last year. Just getting them up to varsity pace and learning how to work together and jelling. I think once we started jelling, we started to see a lot of positive results.”