McCann Rebounds with Win over Pathfinder
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- After being knocked to the canvas for the first time this season, the McCann Tech girls' soccer team got itself off of the mat rather quickly with a 2-1 win over Pathfinder on Thursday.Junior Mary Nguyen scored a goal in each half to lift the Hornets to victory and to wash out the bad taste they had in their mouths following a tough 2-1 loss to Saint Mary's on Tuesday. A win against the Saints would have clinched the Tri-County League title for McCann, which instead dropped into a first-place tie with St. Mary's. Mike Dowling's club did what it had to do on Thursday, however, winning the first of its three remaining league games on the schedule to improve to 10-5-1 overall, 10-1-1 in the division.
"We played well today," Dowling said. "The St. Mary's game was a big loss because now we're tied for first with them. Now we need to win out to guarantee ourselves first place. We've already clinched a spot in Western Mass., though, and we'll see later this week if we're invited to the state vocational tournament."
Dowling said he like's his team's chances for making the state vocational tournament, and it would seem hard to believe that tournament committee would leave out a team with the Hornets' resume. The committee will probably also want to get a good look at Nguyen, who notched her team-leading 16th and 17th goals of the season on Thursday.
The junior captain got McCann on the board in 19th minute of the game, taking a cross from sophomore Eileen Zajac, settling the ball to her feet and knocking it home past Pioneers' goalie Sarah Sikorski (12 saves) for a 1-0 lead.
"Pathfinder was really playing tight in the middle but somehow I got around and got a nice assist from Eileen," Nguyen said. "She crossed it. She doesn't do that often, but she did really good and it was perfect."
Zajac's play of late is just one of many surprising performances Dowling has received from a young team that has surpassed many of his expectations this season.
"Eileen is playing a lot better," Dowling said. "She's only a sophomore, too. We have a bunch of young kids, but they've improved throughout the whole season, right from the get-go. I have three seniors, a bunch of juniors who are still kind of learning and 14 sophomores. I figured we'd have a .500 season and I was hoping we could make the tournament, but they've all done really well."
Despite holding an 8-3 edge in shots in the first half, McCann was unable to increase its lead until the 64th minute of play. They had a few chances, including a shot by sophomore forward Jocelynne Smith which hit off of the left post, but the Hornets just couldn't find a way through a cluttered Pathfinder defense that set up shop in the middle of the field. Another cross by Zajac midway through the second half cleared the head of Sikorski and looked destined to find twine, but a Pioneers' defender was able to clear it off the goal line at the last second.
"They had seven girls in the middle of the field," Dowling said of Pathfinder's defense. "We had trouble getting shots off because they clogged it all up. Poor Mary couldn't find any room. The key was to stay wide. Once we stayed wide, we started getting some better looks."
Nguyen finally found some room to manuever with 16 minutes left in the game. She collected a loose ball just over midfield, outran one defender and dribbled by another before shooting from 25 yards out into the upper-right corner of the goal. Sikorski was in a good position, but the ball was placed just right to sail over her hands and into the back of the net.
"They called a timeout before that and I told Mary, 'I don't know what you're vantage point is, but you're trying to get past that last girl,'" Dowling said. "I told her if she gets into the box to just shoot the ball. I couldn't even see the goalie through the last defender, so she's not going to be able to see the ball."
The Pioneers didn't go down easily, though, and gave the home fans a few nervous moments before the game was through. Pathfinder used one of its corner kicks to get a good look at the net, but senior sweeper Brittany Briggs did a nice job of clearing the ball off of the line. The visitors eventually did cash in, however, on a goal by Kelsey Roman with less than four minutes remaining. Roman beat the Hornets' defense on the left wing and tucked a low shot inside the near post to break up the shutout attempt by McCann goalie Becky Daniels (five saves).
Although it wasn't perfect, the win over the Pioneers was just what the doctor ordered when it came to shaking off the St. Mary's loss and moving on with the rest of the season.
"We wanted to be in first and we didn't want to be co-champions, but St. Mary's is pretty good and we lost," Nguyen said. "It happens. We had a bad game. We all hustled, but it was just an unlucky game I guess. I know we can beat them, but you can't turn back time.
"Everyone's doing pretty good. We're way better than last year and we're stepping up our game. We're on a good streak right now."
The Hornets close out the regular season with a pair of road games against Putnam and Franklin Tech on Monday and Tuesday of next week.