NORTHAMPTON — Sydney Lewandowski played the role of a brick wall as she stoned nine shots and did not allow a goal during the Northampton girls soccer team’s 2-0 victory over Agawam Thursday.
Lewandowski’s biggest stop came during a penalty shot early in the second half. Agawam’s Sarah Carron stepped into the box and with the crowd silent, riffled a shot to the right side of the net. Lewandowski sprung to her left fully extended to make the diving save and preserve Northampton’s two-goal lead.
The freshman goalie was not fazed by the pressure of the penalty kick.
“Penalty kicks for me are a pretty usual thing,” Lewandowski said. “I go in with the mentality that I’m going to save this shot.”
The Blue Devils were having a difficult time breaking the Brownies (7-5-2), having spent most of the first half in their own zone. Hamp coach Vanessa Patry signaled for a timeout to make sure her team was on the same page.
“We talked about advancing the ball,” said Patry. “Once we’re in our offensive third we play pretty soccer.”
The Blue Devils delivered a few minutes after the timeout with their first corner kick. Lauren Parks launched a floating cross. Brigitte Goeler-Slough (one assist) bounced above a crowd of orange jerseys to connect a header that sent the ball inside the left post for a 1-0 lead entering halftime.
Riding momentum, Northampton struck again five minutes into the second half. Emma Tanner sniped the top-right corner, just barely missing Agawam goalie Erin Berthiaume’s fingertips.
The Blue Devils’ defense gave the Agawam forwards no space to work with for the rest of the game. For the few opportunities the defense did gave up, Agawam was not able to capitalize.
Northampton learned from its previous meeting with Agawam when it lost 2-0.
“They outplayed us physically last time, so it took us out of our game,” said Patry. “Practice was focused around bringing and matching that intensity.”
The Blue Devils (4-5-4, 2-1-2) secured their first victory since Sept. 19.
“This was an excellent win that’ll steer us in the right direction,” said Patry.
Glowing with joy and excitement after her shutout Lewandowski said, “Nothing is better than getting a shutout and winning. Everybody did their job, the offense did amazing, I love this team.”