Orpin, Leamon Key Mount Greylock's Win Over Drury
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Greylock (3-0-1) was fortunate to receive a penalty kick after a handball was called on the Hurricanes with one second left on the clock on Tuesday. Senior Alex Majetich converted the attempt to give her team a key South Division win, and the Mounties picked up another victory over a North County rival on Thursday.
Tom Ostheimer's club didn't need any last-second drama in the game against the Blue Devils, however, as junior Sophie Leamon and sophomore Kelsey Orpin connected with each other on their team's first two goals. That was all the cushion needed for the Greylock defense, which successfully fended off seven Drury corner kicks and only allowed one Devils' shot to reach the hands of Mounties keeper Margot Besnard.
The game was fairly competitive in the middle of the field. Each team displayed plenty of hustle and intensity, but the difference in the match came down to the Mounties' execution on the offensive end and missed assignments by Drury (1-3) on the defensive side. The Blue Devils simply left too much open space up the middle, something Leamon quickly took advantage of in the sixth minute of the game.
After a battle for a loose ball, Leamon gained possession and found herself open in the middle of the field. No one on the Drury defense stepped up to slow her progress, allowing Leamon to dish the ball off to a charging Orpin on the right. She took one touch and blasted a shot off the inside of the left post and in to give the hosts a quick 1-0 lead.
"We really got killed in the middle of the field today," Blue Devils head coach Molly Meczywor said. "The key to this game was the middle of the field, and we lost the ball in the middle [on the first goal]. We're playing a 4-3-3 now, and we're kind of missing Sarah Bloom from last year. She had the field vision of a center mid. She picked her head up and she distributed to the corner flags. We're missing her this year because we don't have a true center midfielder.
"We've put some of our best skilled players there, but they either pinch too far up or pinch too far back and we have too many gaps. We're toying with the idea to go with a 4-4-2 to kind of bottle up the middle a little bit and create a little more offense on the outside. We've got some changes to make because obviously the pieces of the puzzle we've tried aren't fitting together."
Meczywor said her defenders were allowing Greylock players between five to 10 yards of space in the middle of the field, something you don't want to do with players like Orpin around. The young forward has made quite the name for herself in her second year on varsity. In five games this season, Orpin leads the team with four goals and two assists.
"I think that first goal was huge for us because we've had trouble scoring this season," Ostheimer said. "I think they shut the middle down, and we had to go wide after that, but I thought that set the tone for the game. We had [Kelsey] on defense last year, but pushed her up to offense this year. She really puts a lot of stress on opposing defenses. She's got a beautiful cross, she can go vertically really quickly and her start-stop speed is incredible."
"We really got killed in the middle of the field today," Blue Devils head coach Molly Meczywor said. "The key to this game was the middle of the field, and we lost the ball in the middle [on the first goal]. We're playing a 4-3-3 now, and we're kind of missing Sarah Bloom from last year. She had the field vision of a center mid. She picked her head up and she distributed to the corner flags. We're missing her this year because we don't have a true center midfielder.
"We've put some of our best skilled players there, but they either pinch too far up or pinch too far back and we have too many gaps. We're toying with the idea to go with a 4-4-2 to kind of bottle up the middle a little bit and create a little more offense on the outside. We've got some changes to make because obviously the pieces of the puzzle we've tried aren't fitting together."
Meczywor said her defenders were allowing Greylock players between five to 10 yards of space in the middle of the field, something you don't want to do with players like Orpin around. The young forward has made quite the name for herself in her second year on varsity. In five games this season, Orpin leads the team with four goals and two assists.
"I think that first goal was huge for us because we've had trouble scoring this season," Ostheimer said. "I think they shut the middle down, and we had to go wide after that, but I thought that set the tone for the game. We had [Kelsey] on defense last year, but pushed her up to offense this year. She really puts a lot of stress on opposing defenses. She's got a beautiful cross, she can go vertically really quickly and her start-stop speed is incredible."
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Although the Drury defense tightened up after that, Orpin still managed to show her skills in a variety of ways. With just over four minutes left in the first half, she won a bouncing ball on the right wing and quickly fired another far-post shot that clanged off the same left post she hit before. The ball bounced out of the goal box this time, however, and the Mounties settled for a 1-0 lead at the half.
Six minutes into the second half though, Orpin beat her defender on the right side again and crossed a great ball near the penalty stripe. She caught the head of senior Alexandra DeVeaux, but her shot went right of the net. It took less than a minute for Orpin to find another teammate, however, this time connecting on a quick pass up the middle to Leamon. The junior forward walked in alone on Devils' goalie Ali Tatro (three saves) and scored with a low shot into the right corner of the goal.
When asked how she's become such an important cog in the Greylock offense this year, Orpin modestly said, "I think I'm doing better with going forward with the ball and making the crosses, just setting everything up."
While the Mounties found success going up the middle of the field, it was quite the opposite for Drury. With Majetich and veteran sweeper Alexa Adams clogging up broadway, the visitors seemed to be running into closed doors over and over again. Freshman forward Jillian Tietgens had a close-range shot in the first half, but she was too close to the net to overcome the difficult angle of her position. Despite outshooting Greylock 5-4 in the first half, Meczywor's squad didn't get a shot on goal until a long-range attempt by junior Cori Ghidotti 13 minutes into the second half.
"We need a little bit more intensity in front of the net and with finishing," Meczywor said. "But we just pounded the ball in the middle again. We did that against Hoosac, and we've talked about getting balls to the corner flag. We've talked about getting it wide and using space, but we just didn't do that today. I think we got caught in their style of play. They're so fast that playing kick and run kind of works for them. For us, we're more of a finesse team this year, where we're able to stop, pass and move. We just got sucked into their game play. We just pounded it down the middle, and it didn't create any space for us."
"I think our D is doing a great job of marking," Ostheimer said. "We're confident that we can give up a few corners and be able to mark and clear the ball."
Any chance of a Devils' comeback was squashed in the 65th minute when junior Miranda Bucky dribbled up the middle of the field similar to the way Leamon did early in the game. Once again, the pass was dished off to the right, where freshman Melissa Swann lofted it over Tatro's head and into the back-left corner of the net.
It was Swann's first career goal on varsity. The Mounties celebrated that and the fact that they took down their two top challengers for the South Division title in one week. Last year, Greylock finished tied with Drury for the league title, while Hoosac finished just one point behind in second place.
"[Coach] said the Hoosac game really saved our season," Orpin said. "If we didn't win that, we probably wouldn't have had a lot of confidence for this game. We really get pumped for these two teams because we really want to win the division."
Six minutes into the second half though, Orpin beat her defender on the right side again and crossed a great ball near the penalty stripe. She caught the head of senior Alexandra DeVeaux, but her shot went right of the net. It took less than a minute for Orpin to find another teammate, however, this time connecting on a quick pass up the middle to Leamon. The junior forward walked in alone on Devils' goalie Ali Tatro (three saves) and scored with a low shot into the right corner of the goal.
When asked how she's become such an important cog in the Greylock offense this year, Orpin modestly said, "I think I'm doing better with going forward with the ball and making the crosses, just setting everything up."
While the Mounties found success going up the middle of the field, it was quite the opposite for Drury. With Majetich and veteran sweeper Alexa Adams clogging up broadway, the visitors seemed to be running into closed doors over and over again. Freshman forward Jillian Tietgens had a close-range shot in the first half, but she was too close to the net to overcome the difficult angle of her position. Despite outshooting Greylock 5-4 in the first half, Meczywor's squad didn't get a shot on goal until a long-range attempt by junior Cori Ghidotti 13 minutes into the second half.
"We need a little bit more intensity in front of the net and with finishing," Meczywor said. "But we just pounded the ball in the middle again. We did that against Hoosac, and we've talked about getting balls to the corner flag. We've talked about getting it wide and using space, but we just didn't do that today. I think we got caught in their style of play. They're so fast that playing kick and run kind of works for them. For us, we're more of a finesse team this year, where we're able to stop, pass and move. We just got sucked into their game play. We just pounded it down the middle, and it didn't create any space for us."
"I think our D is doing a great job of marking," Ostheimer said. "We're confident that we can give up a few corners and be able to mark and clear the ball."
Any chance of a Devils' comeback was squashed in the 65th minute when junior Miranda Bucky dribbled up the middle of the field similar to the way Leamon did early in the game. Once again, the pass was dished off to the right, where freshman Melissa Swann lofted it over Tatro's head and into the back-left corner of the net.
It was Swann's first career goal on varsity. The Mounties celebrated that and the fact that they took down their two top challengers for the South Division title in one week. Last year, Greylock finished tied with Drury for the league title, while Hoosac finished just one point behind in second place.
"[Coach] said the Hoosac game really saved our season," Orpin said. "If we didn't win that, we probably wouldn't have had a lot of confidence for this game. We really get pumped for these two teams because we really want to win the division."