TURNERS FALLS — Once the Mount Greylock boys soccer team got going against Franklin Tech on Monday night, the goals came in a hurry.
The No. 4 Eagles were able to hold off the No. 5 Mounties’ attack for 13 minutes before the avalanche came. Luca Hirsch scored off a low crossing corner from John Morales to break the ice for Greylock in the 14th minute and from that point on, it was all Mounties.
Greylock scored three goals in the following seven minutes after Hirsch’s strike and tacked two on before the half to take a commanding 6-0 lead into the break. Three goals followed in the second half as the Mounties eliminated Franklin Tech, 9-0, in the quarterfinals of the Western Mass. Class C Tournament.
“We looked good coming out,” Franklin Tech coach Kurt Richardson said. “I thought we’d be flat right off the bat. I thought we’d have butterflies. It was a team we hadn’t seen before and we didn’t know what to expect. You look at them, they’re very athletic. We went that long playing them straight up and it looked fairly even. They held possession but I thought we surprised them as a Tech school going toe-to-toe with them, even if it was just for 13 minutes.”
It was corner kicks that did the Eagles in. Greylock’s second goal came on a corner, with Morales playing it short to Quinn McDermott who took a dribble in and belted a shot home from an off angle to make it 2-0 in the 17th minute.
Two minutes later, Christian Sullivan got a head of steam down the right side of the box and sent a cross in to McDermott, who headed it home to make it 3-0 in the 19th minute. In the 20th minute, Josh Rudin headed in a corner from McDermott and in the blink of an eye, the Mounties held a 4-0 lead.
Greylock’s final two goals of the first half came in the final 10 minutes. Max McCallister made a great pass to Sullivan across the box and Sullivan finished to make it 5-0 in the 34th minute. Diego Galvez scored an unassisted goal in front in the 36th minute to give the Mounties a commanding 6-0 lead at the half.
“Even though the score was lopsided, those were legit goals,” Richardson said. “There’s no goalie in Western Mass. that was going to stop those so hats off to them. That’s a strong program.”
In the 55th minute, George Munemo’s shot was saved by Eagles keeper Nik Martin, but McDermott was there to clean up the rebound and make it 7-0.
Galvez blasted in a shot from 35 yards out off a pass from Sullivan to make it 8-0 in the 59th minute and Liam O’Keefe scored off a dish from Declan Rogers in the 66th minute to close out the scoring for Greylock.
Martin finished with 13 saves in the loss, six coming in the first half and seven in the second half.
For Richardson, he hopes his young team can take some of the concepts and styles that the Mounties play with and learn from the loss.
“We only have two seniors,” Richardson said. “It’s good to get the freshmen’s eyes open to where we have to be. Playing some of the teams we play does us no good. You develop bad habits and things that you can’t do. We have to get over that hurdle to win tournament games.”