Spartans show some life with win over Millionaires

GREAT BARRINGTON  – The Monument Mountain girls soccer team is fighting for its playoff life as the season turns the corner for the Spartans. With a 5-6 overall record, the Great Barrington team needs six more points to qualify for a tournament spot, and last Friday was a step in the right direction, as Head Coach Jess Platt’s team over came the wind and the cold to knock off the Millionaires 1-0.

“This was an important game for us,” said Platt after the win. “Looking at the rest of the season and making the tournament – I thought we really put it together and played well, using our feet and winning 50-50 balls.”

The Millionaires, who improved to 7-3-2 with a win over Hoosac on Tuesday, had plenty of scoring opportunities in the second half but couldn’t get one by Spartan senior goalie Iolani DeRis (seven saves).

“We couldn’t put the ball in the net and that’s what happens when you don’t show up to play and you don’t capitalize on scoring chances,” said Lenox Head Coach Matt Cote.

With little pressure on either side during a scoreless first half, Monument’s attacker, Courtney Freadman, fired a shot on net that ricocheted out to fellow attacker Katerina Lister, who knocked it home in the 71st minute. The goal followed at least five scoring opportunities for the Millionaires and a solid 10 minutes in the Spartans’ zone.

“Courtney likes those long runs, so we let her go for it,” Platt said. “[Lister] is good on the ball, so when she gets it she can turn and shoot.”

“I don’t know the reason but we didn’t play with the same energy even when we had scoring opportunities,” said Cote. “I care little about record at this point, I am more concerned about the team I saw play today.”

The Millionaires did rebound with a 3-1 win over Hoosac, but couldn’t seem to spread the field out against the Spartans’ midfield, despite their effective interior passing game.

“We need to work on getting the ball to the flank and utilizing that,” Cote said. “We need to keep the ball on the field and see some effective runs from the flank.”

“We did a lot of support of our midfield,” Platt said. “We just wanted to challenge the ball in the middle – we were well positioned.”

The difference was the Spartans’ defense and goalie DeRis, who has been aggressive in coming out of the net to pick up loose balls.

“[DeRis’] confidence has been boosting as the season has been progressing,” Platt said. “She’s got good hands on the ball and she holds on to it  – she’s a senior and fighting to her last game.”

The Millionaires have two more games this week and hope to be able to climb back to the top of the division as the season continues.

“I hope the girls are frustrated, because I am,” Cote said. “[Monument] brought it today, so they should be proud of themselves.”

Posted by Tim Davis on October 18, 2012. Filed under High School Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry