Sabis Girls Knock Off Mount Greylock
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Sabis girls soccer team scored midway through the second half to earn a 1-0 win over Mount Greylock on Saturday night in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 quarter-finals.
The Bulldogs took advantage of a Mountie miscue in the back to knock one past keeper Charlotte rand in the 59th minute, and then they packed it in the back for the last 20 minutes to preserve the lead and advance to Wednesday’s semi-finals against top-seeded Wahconah (15-2-2).
Wahconah reached the semis with a 4-0 win over South Hadley on Saturday night. It will play Sabis on Wednesday at 5 at Northampton High School for a berth in the regional final.
Sabis junior Kelsie Jacobs was credited with the lone goal on Saturday on John T. Allen Field, scoring on a ball that appeared to deflect off a Mount Greylock defender and into the net.
"It was basically a clear," Mount Greylock coach Tom Ostheimer said. "We cleared the ball to the top of the box instead of getting it up to the sideline. If we do that, we’re still playing soccer right now.
"We just gave them an opportunity when we shouldn't have because we had the ball and needed to play it outside."
Fourth-seeded Mount Greylock (13-6-1) had the ball most of the evening, especially in the first half, when it repeatedly set up in Sabis' end of the field for long offensive possessions.
But the Mounties had trouble turning all of that positional advantage into quality chances at the net. Sabis keeper Sarah Brown needed to make just three of her seven saves in the first half.
Coming out of intermission, the Bulldogs (11-6-3) made it a more even game up until they scored the game-winner.
"We figured out what they do,” Sabis coach Matt Smith said. “We figured out how they were going to play. And we've been a second-half team most of the season.
"We just came out and told them we needed to win the balls. This is what we needed to do to get some chances. The kids worked hard. I can't say enough about the kids. They just played within themselves and did a great job."
Mount Greylock actually had the first big chance of the second half in the first minute after half-time. Ada de Gooyer had a try from about 20 yards out that glanced off Brown’s fingertips and the crossbar.
After Sabis got its goal and went into a bit of a defensive shell, Brown faced three more shots on goal -- two from Kelsey Orpin and one from Lucy Barrett. But finishing, which has been a problem for Mount Greylock at times this year, again proved elusive.
"We had more chances in the first half than the second half, but that happens in soccer, where you control play … and didn’t have opportunities," Ostheimer said. "We had the ball in their end. We didn’t come up with a lot of good on-net shots. Their defense was good. They cleared the ball away.
"And then when you get down 1-0, you're pressing."
Ostheimer graduates just three seniors off this year’s team: Orpin, Barrett and Miranda Voller.