Mount Greylock Comes Back to Advance in D4
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Three second-half goals lifted Mount Greylock past Tyngsborough in the Division 4 State Tournament First Round on Wednesday.
It was a tale of two halves, as Tyngsborough stunned the hosts early in the game. It took just nine minutes for Tyngsborough to find the breakthrough after Mount Greylock failed to clear their lines, allowing for a clean strike from outside the box that slipped past the diving keeper. Tyngsborough appeared to be first to every ball, which was uncharacteristic of Mount Greylock.
The Mounties continued to battle but struggled to break through Tyngsborough’s defense. Most of their early offensive chances came from long shots outside the box, but opportunities were limited. In the 24th minute, Mount Greylock once again failed to clear the ball, and after a shot was sent back into the box, it deflected off the keeper’s hands and rolled over the line.
That second goal served as a wake-up call for the Mounties, who began to control possession and work the ball more effectively through the midfield. Despite the improvement, they went into halftime trailing 2-0.
“We’ve had faith in this team’s ability to score goals, so I put our faith in that,” Mount Greylock head coach Blair Dils said. “We talked about getting shots on frame because we really didn’t do that in the first half, and that was the main focus. We tried to bring our energy level up, press harder, and take a few more risks out on the flanks to force turnovers.”
Whatever was said at halftime clearly worked, as Mount Greylock came out firing in the second half. The Mounties got on the board in the 46th minute after forcing a turnover, and Tanley Drake made no mistake, slotting the ball low and hard past the keeper. Just one minute later, Nora Lopez sent a dangerous ball to the front post that Adele Low connected on to tie the game at two apiece, completely flipping the match on its head.
With all the momentum, Mount Greylock continued to press, keeping Tyngsborough pinned back with wave after wave of attacks. The breakthrough came in the 54th minute when Lopez tallied her second assist of the night, setting up Emma Stuebner, who cut in from the wing and rifled a shot to the far post to give the Mounties the lead.
“The momentum shift after the goals gave us life, and we were able to capitalize right away,” Dils said. “Seeing Emma Stuebner get that huge goal — a young player stepping up in a big moment — was great to see. Hats off to the girls for not quitting and having faith in our offense.”
It was a dominant second half from Mount Greylock, whose energy and composure turned the game around. Their ability to read the play, take smart risks, and manage the tempo with a one-goal lead carried them across the finish line as they advanced in the State Tournament to face fourth-seeded Hamilton-Wenham in the Round of 16 on a date to be announced.