Generals, Spartans Play to a Draw
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – After three straight losses, it stands to reason that the Monument Mountain girls soccer team would be happy with a tie – even against a team it beat the last time around.
But there was plenty of cause for Spartans coach Sean Flynn to be smiling after Thursday’s scoreless stalemate against Pittsfield at Kirvin Park.
“I mean, I care about the score, but I’m really looking for our level of performance over 80 minutes, and I was pleased with that,” Flynn said. “I thought we grew into the game in the first half, and we really started to do a nice job of finding players and starting to piece some things together.
“[Pittsfield’s] a really good team, and it’s a really fun game to play when you get a good, Berkshire County hard-fought game.”
Shots were not plentiful, but there were quality chances for both sides.
Keepers Ella Kroboth of Pittsfield and Ani Hocker of Monument Mountain, however, were solid, making three saves apiece to keep it a scoreless game.
For the Spartans (4-9-1), who have scored just twice in their last five games, offensive frustration was nothing new. The Generals (8-7-1) came in with eight goals in their last three outings.
But Pittsfield coach Molly West, like Flynn, was pleased with the effort she got from her side on Thursday.
“I thought we played really great today,” West said. “I thought we moved the ball. To be honest with you, I thought we dominated the majority of the game. We had some good opportunities. We challenged their goalie much better today than we did the first time around.
“Brooke Wong and Ava Palmer did a fantastic job on [Mallory] Lucey and Sadie [Raifstanger]. We were intentional about man marking them and trying to shut them down, and I thought the two of them did a fantastic job defensively.”
Raifstanger still had the best scoring chance for either side in the first half when she ripped a shot from the middle of the 18 that Kroboth was able to knock down.
“Ella has had a fantastic season,” West said. “Given the fact that she hasn’t played goalie before, what she’s done for this team has been instrumental in terms of big saves. The other day when we played Frontier, she had four or five saves right in a row that were just amazing.
“But she’s an athlete. She’s tough, for one. But, secondarily, she just is smart. She has an athletic IQ. But she’s done a really great job of stepping up for the team.”
After the teams combined for three shots on goal in the first half, Pittsfield outshot the Spartans, 3-2, in the second.
But those numbers don’t include moments like when Kroboth came well off her line to beat Raifstanger to a ball at the top of the 18 and deny a breakaway opportunity or when Pittsfield’s Madi Pope went just over the crossbar with a shot from high on the right wing in the 69th minute.
The Generals’ Sophia Schnackenberg had the best shot on goal of the second half when she one-timed a cross from the right wing in traffic in the middle of the 18, but Hocker went to the ground to deny the shot.
While Pittsfield did keep Monument Mountain in its defensive end most of the afternoon, the Spartans generated some dangerous opportunities on counters, especially in the second half. They just could not find a way to finish against Kroboth and her defense.
“There’s just times when it’s hard for them to not be impatient, to take an extra touch or give it a little more time to be able to isolate more,” Flynn said.
“But, overall, I think I felt like I was really happy with our effort. We’ve still got to keep working on our execution. But they’ve worked really hard to kind of build toward becoming a better team and playing good soccer.”
Monument Mountain hosts Taconic on Monday.
Pittsfield takes some time off to get ready for the post-season; the Western Massachusetts tournament brackets will be released on Oct. 23.
Photos from this game to come.