SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Mount Greylock girls lacrosse team used an 8-0 first half run to open a six-goal lead in Friday’s opener at South Hadley.
The Tigers kept coming back. But Ainsley Abel kept answering.
Abel scored seven goals and made sure the Mounties never completely relinquished that lead in a 15-14 win.
South Hadley (0-1) closed the first half on a four-goal run to get within two at 9-7. But Abel opened the second half by scoring on an assist from Zoe Armet.
Abel then scored again after Sarah Polumbo won the ensuing draw to push the margin back to four goals, but the Tigers scored the next three to make it a one-score game with 10 minutes, 16 seconds to play.
Again, Polumbo controlled the draw, and again, Abel found the back of the net, this time with 10:06 on the clock, sparking a three-goal run for the Mounties.
She scored Mount Greylock’s last goal, off a pass from Lexi Politis, to make it 15-11 with 6:07 on the clock. But South Hadley responded with three more goals, the last on a free position off a penalty that ended up giving the Tigers a two-player advantage for two minutes with 2:16 left to play.
But after a timeout, the Mounties’ defense forced a turnover in its defensive zone with 1:45 to play, and the visitors were able to bring the ball up the field and run the clock down to seal the victory.
“Huge groundball,” Mount Greylock coach Jeff Stripp said of Mount Greylock’s final defensive stand. “That’s what we talked about in the timeout. And that obviously worked out well for us.”
Early on, it looked like the Mounties might run away with it.
After Gabrielle Moroney (three goals) scored to give South Hadley an early 3-1 lead, Mount Greylock scored the next eight.
Addison Abel got things started with a free position goal. Phoebe Hughes scored off a feed from Zoe Armet (three assists) to tie it, and Ainsley Abel scored to give Mount Greylock the lead for good at 4-3 midway through the half.
After scoring just one goal in the first nine minutes, the 2021 Central/Western Massachusetts finalists scored 14 over the next 35 minutes.
“We struggled at certain points,” Stripp said. “We were trying to run some sets we’ve been working on. But it’s the first game. At the end of the day, we got some shots.
“Credit to South Hadley. Their midfielders [Meghan Carey and Olivia Marion] did a really nice job for them moving the ball and just getting control of the ball. We’ve got to clean up the little things: groundballs and catching and throwing.”
In the back, Christy Rech made eight saves to earn the win in goal for Mount Greylock, which plays its second game under Stripp, a long-time boys coach for the Mounties who takes over the girls team this spring.
“This is my first time really spending time with them,” Stripp said. “It’s been a lot of figuring out who’s who and getting to know them and coming together as a team. We don’t have the luxury of a turf field to work on our spacing and stuff, and I think that showed today.
“But I’m really proud of them. They fought hard. Their attitude was great, and their effort was outstanding. I’m really excited for them.”
Mount Greylock (1-0) is home to face Westfield on Monday.
