'Canes Come Back to Earn Exciting Tie
SOUTH DEERFIELD, Mass. -- Down two goals and two of its top players, it would have been easy for the Hoosac Valley girls' soccer team to give up in a tough road game against Frontier on Friday.Undefeated seasons aren't achieved easily, however, so one could understand why the Hurricanes weren't ready to give up on theirs, regardless of the situation or the circumstances. With eight minutes to go, Blair Mahar's club received goals from sophomores Jen Gale and Courtney Hayer to pull out a 2-2 tie and keep Hoosac's undefeated season alive.
"After decidedly controlling most of the first half, we lost Miranda Gajda and Megan Rodowicz to ankle injuries just before hafltime," Mahar said. "That left us without a bench going into the second half, and Frontier came out strong and just began outplaying us. We were tired and off our game without Miranda and Meg. They scored and scored again six minutes later, and I think we all kind of felt this was the beginning of the end."
Tallies by Megan Farrick and Sara Clift put the 'Canes (4-0-3) in a 2-0 hole, but a late substitution and a gutsy performance by Gajda gave Hoosac a big lift late in the game.
"We called a timeout with 12 minutes left and, despite her obvious pain, Miranda agreed to go in as sweeper to free up Courtney to play offense. It was all or nothing at that point and to preserve our undefeated record, we needed to make something happen. The girls went back in and within minutes, just began playing the game we played versus Wahconah. We played aggressive, fast, possesion soccer and somehow they found the legs and lungs to take the game back."
With eight minutes left on the clock, Gale headed in a cross from senior Elizabeth Provost to cut the deficit in half. Two minutes later, Hayer took a pass from junior Danielle Beauchemin and placed a nice shot past Frontier goalie Camilia Baronas (six saves) for the game-tying goal.
Senior Jessica Gale helped preserve the tie with some impressive work on defense, while freshman keeper Megan Richardson also came through with six saves in the game.
The Hurricanes next host Monument Mountain for a game at the MCLA Athletic Complex at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday.