Raifstanger Scores Four Goals to Lead Monument Mountain Past Drury
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The Monument Mountain girls soccer team wasted little time setting the tone Monday afternoon, jumping out to a two-goal lead in the opening 13 minutes and never looking back as the Spartans cruised past Drury, 4-1.
Sadie Raifstanger scored all four goals for the visitors, who led, 3-0, before Drury got on the board.
The Spartans controlled possession from the opening whistle, creating several early chances and forcing Drury goalkeeper Addisyn Shepard into some difficult saves.
Drury managed to create a counterattack after weathering the early pressure, with a nice through ball finding Lily Mirante. But Mirante’s shot lacked the necessary power, allowing the Monument goalkeeper to collect it without much trouble.
Monument finally broke through in the 10th minute when Lucy Dohoney sent a perfectly placed through ball to Raifstanger. Raifstanger calmly collected the pass and finished past the keeper to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
Just three minutes later, Monument struck again.
Dohoney continued to find success playing through the middle, sending another through ball behind the Drury defense to Raifstanger. The Monument forward found herself one-on-one with Shepard and calmly tucked the shot away to make it 2-0.
“We’re trying to build a more sustained attack coming out of midfield,” Monument head coach Sean Flynn said. “I thought our combination was good at times. Everyone was trying to play with more intention, trying to win the ball and find feet rather than just kicking the ball up the field.”
Raifstanger consistently caused problems for the Drury defense.
Monument did a strong job moving the ball through the midfield and out wide, using combination play and one-two passing to work its way into the final third. The Spartans’ ability to find space and connect passes created problems for Drury throughout the first half.
Monument continued to look for opportunities in the second half, sending balls toward Raifstanger and working the ball down the wings, but the Spartans struggled to find the final pass that would extend their lead.
Drury came out with more urgency after halftime and nearly cut into the deficit.
Ella Bond created the Blue Devils’ best chance of the game to that point, receiving the ball, beating a defender and getting a shot off. Monument’s goalkeeper was there to make the save, tipping the attempt over the crossbar for a corner.
Monument responded with a timely goal in the 58th minute.
After Raifstanger had a pass deflected back to her, she carried the ball into the box and ripped a shot that caught the fingertips of the keeper before finding the back of the net. The goal completed Raifstanger’s hat trick and pushed Monument’s lead to 3-0.
“Sadie is so good in and around the box. She has great composure,” Flynn said. “She’s always thinking about where she wants the ball to go, which is a mental thing, but she’s excellent at it.”
Drury refused to go away.
Bond beat her defender and worked her way to the byline before sending a pass across the box to Kylie Tower, who finished the chance to get Drury on the board and cut the deficit to 3-1.
But Monument quickly put the game out of reach.
In the 72nd minute, Raifstanger used her pace to beat a defender and take on the goalkeeper one-on-one. She calmly tucked her shot into the side netting for her fourth goal of the afternoon, capping a dominant performance in front of goal.
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for Monument Mountain and put the Spartans back in the win column.
“We had a really good game against Drury the first time we played, but I thought we did a better job of finishing our chances early to give us a little bit of cushion in case we hit a lull or made an error,” Flynn said.
Monument Mountain (3-6) will look to build on the win when it hosts Pittsfield on Thursday.
Drury, which entered the game riding a two-game winning streak, will look to bounce back when it takes on Wahconah on Thursday.