Girls soccer: Allison Fleury, second half eruption powers South Hadley’s 3-1 comeback win over Northampton

SOUTH HADLEY — Following a pair of losses to end last week, the South Hadley girls soccer team was eager to get back on the pitch Monday. And the Tigers looked it right from the jump in their bout against Northampton under the lights.

South Hadley generated a handful of first-half opportunities, but after failing to score, it fell behind 1-0 thanks to Willow Claps burying a goal to put Northampton ahead early in the second.

It was all Tigers from there.

Hannah Haesaert put home a goal to knot things up at one apiece, and Allison Fleury followed suit with a pair of tallies shortly after. In the blink of an eye, South Hadley held a 3-1 advantage — one it wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way.

“That was a good game where our girls showed a lot of grit,” Tigers head coach Rich Marjanski said. “They responded well to that first goal, and started putting the ball on frame and in the back of the net. Obviously we had our chances in the first half, and we felt like we were controlling the play, but we weren’t finishing. But we focused on that at halftime — finishing and picking our spots — and the girls did a great job with the way they responded.”

It was a tale of two halves. The first 40 minutes featured no goals while the second 40 saw four — the first coming from Claps in a matter of moments. She received a pass from Allie Sullivan and darted toward goal, sending one past a diving Olivia Athas (South Hadley’s keeper) to give Northampton a 1-0 lead.

That tally kickstarted a goal-scoring spree, as the Tigers put home three over the next 10 minutes. Blue Devils head coach Vanessa Butynski thought her team got a little bit complacent after netting the early score.

“We popped one in really early in the second half, and it felt like we almost were OK with that instead of just putting them away,” Butynski, who has been the coach at Northampton for a decade, said. “South Hadley, this is the first time we’ve played them since I’ve been here. They played two high forwards and were attacking. They really go at it. I think if we capitalized after that first goal in the second half, it would’ve been a different game.”

Despite the two losses last week, South Hadley improved to 3-0 in its league as the two defeats were independent games. Haesaert and Fleury caught Butynski’s attention up front and they’re a dynamic duo that burst onto the scene a year ago. They showed what they’re capable of on Monday, giving the Tigers an offensive burst after being held quiet for about 45 minutes.

Fleury’s second goal was from well outside the box, and she put it just under the crossbar for a highlight-reel goal.

“They are both very quick players, and they can put the ball where they want to,” Marjanski said of Fleury and Haesaert. “They know what to do, especially when they switch the field. They get their 1-on-1 opportunities and they take advantage of them. It’s what we work on practice, moving it quick side-to-side. The first goal, Ally crossed it to Hannah. It was great to see that in action, because we work on it a lot. They’re two dangerous players.”

Anna Oravec made a game-high 14 saves as she put forth a strong effort in goal. The Blue Devils will see South Hadley again later on in the year, and from now until then, Butynski said she wants to see her team’s practice intensity pick up.

Northampton (2-2) travels to Longmeadow on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.

“Our biggest thing is I want them to train harder in practice, so that when we come into a game it’s almost easier,” Butynski said. “Yes there are things we need to work on, but I’m going to challenge them to challenge each other harder in practice, so when we come to a game situation it’s easy. They played all right. We had our opportunities. I think they’re going to be ready for Longmeadow.”

Assists for the Tigers on Monday went to Simone Quinn, Olivia Athas (who also made eight saves in goal) and Kiana Ramos. South Hadley (3-2) returns to action on the road on Thursday night against East Longmeadow at 7 p.m.