Mount Greylock, Pittsfield Girls Play to a Draw
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Mount Greylock girls soccer team broke in the new field under the lights with a scoreless draw against Pittsfield on Tuesday night.
For a game with no goals, the two teams had you on the edge of your seat for 80 minutes as they battled back and forth looking to break the deadlock throughout the game.
Mount Greylock (4-0-1) seemed to settle into the game first with plenty of possession and generated the game’s first real chance just five minutes into the game. The Mounties were not shy when attacking the Pittsfield net and seemed to get a barrage of shots from outside the 18 that just wouldn’t find the back of the net.
Its next big chance came from outside the box and called for a great diving save from Harolyn Castillo, who tipped it off the crossbar and out. Castillo had plenty of big saves in the first half, keeping her Generals in the game.
It wasn’t until late in the first half when Pittsfield finally started to get things going in the final third after they got a steal that set them in on goal one on one. Mount Greylock keeper Addie Cooper was up for the challenge and did a great job closing down the space and eventually making the save to keep it level.
After withstanding the Mount Greylock pressure, Pittsfield saw itself have a nice little spell towards the end of the half but were unable to get anything past the Mount Greylock defense. It was an entertaining first half, but neither team could break the deadlock.
“We had a bad break on that crossbar shot and had some players in behind but didn’t finish as cleanly as we would have liked, but other than that, I thought the intensity level was great, and our back four did really well limiting their chances,” Mount Greylock coach Blair Dils said. “We had a couple of giveaways, but we played through the nerves of tonight, but I thought we took it to them throughout most of the game.”
In the second half, it seemed the game flipped sides and saw Pittsfield with the better possession throughout most of the half.
The Generals came out aggressive, but once again, it was going to take a moment of brilliance to get anything past this Mount Greylock defense. The game started to get a little more open in the second half with both teams getting physical, trying to win the midfield battle.
With just less than 15 minutes left in the game, the Generals had their best possession of the game, drawing three consecutive corner kicks, but were unable to get anything on net.
The final chance of the game came from the Mount Greylock side with some nice one-two passes leading to a shot just inside the box that was sent over the bar. It was a fitting result for both of these teams as they both squandered some chances to score, but the winner of the day came from both of these defenses and keepers who made it tough all night.
“I thought Greylock won the first half, and we really came back with a lot of good positive energy and pressure in the second,” Pittsfield coach Molly West said. “Both teams had fantastic chances, but it doesn’t get much better than this, two hard-nosed teams. I thought we were both physical, and I loved that because that’s what we are about.”
This was Mount Greylock’s first girls game under the lights of its new field. The Mounties will take on Lenox Friday night, on the road, in hopes of keeping their unbeaten streak going.
The Generals (3-1-1) will be happy with the response on Tuesday, coming off a tough loss last week against Wahconah, and will take on Monument Mountain Friday, on the road as well.