CHESHIRE, Mass. – The second half has been big for the Drury girls soccer team.

 

After opening the season 1-5-1, the Blue Devils have gone 5-2 after a strong second half Wednesday secured a 3-1 win over Hoosac Valley.

 

Hailey Kingsley scored her second goal of the game in the final 40 minutes as Drury earned its fourth straight win to spoil senior day for the Hurricanes.

 

After a back-and-forth first half that saw Drury earn a 9-5 edge on shots and a 2-1 lead on the scoreboard, the visitors outshot Hoosac Valley, 11-2, and kept the hosts in their end of the field most of the way after half-time.

 

“Very much so, without question,” Drury coach Sy Uqdah said when asked if he was more pleased with his team’s performance coming out of the break. “I think they came out and decided they wanted it more in the second half. They put what they know to use, the way that they should be playing.

 

“The tactics never changed. I think their attitude changed. Their skill level is better than what they showed in the first half. They understood what they needed to change. They talked about it at half themselves, and then they went out and corrected what was wrong.”

 

Hoosac Valley coach Mark Ziaja also sensed a change in the second half.

 

“I was a little disappointed in that we came out a little flat in the second half,” Ziaja said. “Because I said, expect them to come out a little stronger, and they did. And we kind of struggled there for a little bit.

 

“We stuck to our game plan, which was more defensive. We got pulled apart a couple of times, but I think we pretty much held strong, denied them a lot of great opportunities.”

 

Kingsley cashed in an opportunity early in the first half when she ended up with the ball on the doorstep off a cross into traffic from deep on the right wing. She fired a shot into the net in the 11th minute to put Drury up, 1-0.

 

Midway through the half, Megan McGrath drew a penalty in the 18 on a run up the right wing. She took the ensuing penalty kick and fired a shot into the upper 90 to give the Blue Devils a 2-0 advantage.

 

In the 34th minute, the Hurricanes got on the board.

 

Kim Mach fed Ashlyn Lesure, who scored from deep on the right wing to give the Hurricanes a boost that Ziaja hoped would carry into and through intermission.

 

But despite generating several chances on counters, especially in the last 12 minutes of play, Leisure and the Hurricanes were not able to find another answer for Drury keeper Brooke Bishop (six saves).

 

“I wish Ashlyn just had one more gear to push it into, because she’s fast, but making that whole half-field run, that’s tough for anyone to do, even at the professional level,” Ziaja said.

 

At the other end of the field, Hoosac Valley’s Emma Meczywor stood up to strong pressure from the Blue Devils, especially in the second half, when she made 10 saves.

 

But in the 55th minute, Reagan Cornell in the midfield sent a ball up the middle that found Kingsley in the 18, and Kingsley tapped the ball forward and snuck a shot past a diving Meczywor to again make it a two-goal margin.

 

Drury maintained that cushion by keeping a sharp eye on Lesure. With 11:34 left, Bishop stopped a shot by the speedy forward on a run up the right wing. About a minute later, another Lesure run, this time up the middle, ended with a shot from about 20 yards that was just off frame. In the 75th minute, Emily Therian was able to track down Lesure on a counter up the right wing, and in the final minute, Bishop came well off her line, ranging deep into the midfield, to take the ball away from the Hoosac Valley junior.

 

Both Drury (6-7-1) and Hoosac Valley (2-12-1) are on track for berths in their respective Western Massachusetts tournaments – Class C for the Blue Devils, Class D for the Hurricanes – next week. And both are eyeing life beyond the regional in next month’s Division 5 State tournament.

 

Drury finishes a busy stretch of four games in six days when it hosts St. Mary’s on Friday and Springfield Central on Saturday. Hoosac Valley is home against Easthampton on Saturday morning.

 

It may not have been the win-loss record the Hurricanes envisioned at the outset of the season, but Ziaja is proud of the four seniors the program celebrated on Wednesday: Haley McNeice, Mallory Mazzeo, Hanna Shea and Talia Rehil.

 

“A Hoosac team hasn’t beaten a Drury team since they came into the program, and I know they really wanted it,” he said. “But I think they understand our limitations. They’re just a great bunch. They know we have a lot of young players rounding into form. And we’re staying competitive, but against teams with a lot of athletic players like this, we’re going to have some struggles.

 

“But we’re really sticking together. I think the seniors are largely to credit for just keeping this team cohesive, nurturing those younger players along and really being positive leaders.”