Strong Second Half Lifts McCann over Renaissance
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The McCann girls' soccer team passed a huge Tri-County League test on Tuesday, scoring three goals in the second half to earn a 3-2 win over second-place Renaissance.With the win, the first-place Hornets improve their overall record to 8-4-1 and 8-0-1 in Tri-County competition.
After a scoreless first half, senior Brittany Briggs gave McCann the lead by converting a penalty kick 3:46 into the second half. Sophomore forward Eileen Zajac then doubled the lead in the 60th minute, scoring off of a pass from junior Mary Nguyen for her first goal of the 2011 season. After Renaissance's Kaniyan Nash scored to cut the lead in half in the 65th minute, Nguyen put the game away by finishing off a pass from sophomore Jocelynne Smith a minute and a half later. It was Nguyen's team-leading 12th goal of the season so far.
Renaissance didn't go down easily, though, getting another goal from Olivia Feliciano with just over seven minutes to play in the game. The match was extremely close, as the Hornets earned a narrow 13-12 edge in shots compareed to Renaissance's 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.
McCann head coach Mike Dowling acknowledged strong defensive games by Briggs, Kayla McNeice, Alex Wood and Katie Hancock as one of the main reasons for his team's victory. Hancock's play was especially nice to see after the junior stopper missed the last two and half weeks with a knee injury. Senior Becky Daniels also made an impact in the Hornets' net, making 11 saves on the day.
McCann next plays at Putnam at 4 p.m. on Friday. A victory in that game should qualify the Hornets for a berth in the Division 3 Western Mass. tournament.