WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- After playing in its own end most of the first half on Monday, the Lenox girls soccer team used a rocket off the toe of Tova Brown to upend Mount Greylock, 1-0, and stay unbeaten on the season.
The Millionaires (6-0) got 11 saves from senior goalkeeper Shannon Meisberger, including eight in the first half to keep the game level.
“Shannon had a heck of a game,” Lenox coach Kyle Zinchuk said. “No matter what her save total was, she made some key plays just controlling the ball, some of those high shots, falling on it, corner kicks, chasing balls out, reading through balls coming in and getting to them first. She had a heck of a game.”
Mount Greylock coach Tom Ostheimer agreed.
“We had enough opportunities today to put one or two into the net, and we didn't,” he said. “It happens.
“Their goalie, hats off to her, she had a great game. She didn't let anything over her head.”
Mount Greylock got solid play in goal as well. The Mounties (1-5) continued to split time between Rachel Voller, a senior who played in the field last year, and sophomore Isabella Nicastro. Together they combined to stop eight shots
Nicastro, in particular, came under fire early in the second half, when she faced four shots on goal in the first 10 minutes.
“I think the first half was, a little bit, some nerves,” Zinchuk said. “ We didn't play poorly, but we talked about some things at half-time that we had to do better, and I think they came out and did that.”
Lenox, which won its first five games by a margin of 25-1, faced perhaps its toughest test to date against a Mounties team that has been in competitive every time out this fall except against Division 1 power West Springfield.
“Greylock's a great team, so we were excited to get out here and face a good team,” Zinchuk said. “That's one of the things I said to them at half-time: Here we go, girls. This is what we want. We want these kinds of games. So I think they were really up to the challenge, and I'm proud of them.”
The deciding goal came in the 47th minute when sophomore Julie Pehlert centered the ball from the left wing for senior Brown, who launched a low line drive from about 25 yards that curled under crossbar to break the stalemate.
“That goal by Tova, that was a perfect shot,” Ostheimer said. “There’s nothing the goalie could have done about that.”
Ostheimer’s task is to do something about Mount Greylock’s offense, which has generated three goals in its last five games.
“We've got to get some better play in the front,” he said. “We've got good wheels on the outside. We've just got a hole in the middle there. It's been a rotating position where we're just trying to get a spark in the middle of the field. We've got to work on that.”
Mount Greylock hosts Pittsfield on Wednesday, when Lenox goes to Mount Everett.
