NORTH ADAMS — The Drury boys soccer team came up against a quality Belchertown team on Columbus Day. And while the Blue Devils hung around early, the Orioles eventually wore the Blue Devils down to post a 4-0 win Monday.
Belchertown (7-4) got on the board about midway through the first half through a penalty kick by Evan Fournier, and with just under three minutes to go until halftime, the Orioles scored on a corner kick to take a 2-0 edge into the break. Jarod Bolton scored, while Fournier took the corner for the assist.
“Yeah, we wanted to go out there and try to compete and keep them off the scoreboard, and we did that for a long time,” Drury coach John Jacobbe said. “Then they got the PK, which was a foul in the box, but after working so hard that’s not the way you want to give up a goal.”
While the 2-0 lead was big, the game was in reach coming out of halftime. A minute into the second half, though, Belchertown (7-4) broke down the Drury resistance for good when Max Caron latched onto the end of a Nate Schiffer cross and squeezed his shot by Corbin Rumbolt.
Belchertown added a fourth with 26 minutes left in the game, when Joe Bianco tapped home a cross from Zach Lajeunesse.
“We talked about some things we had to tidy up for the second half, and for the most part they did it,” Belchertown coach Zach Siano said. “We just couldn’t find the back of the twine, in part because of the goalies there.”
The Drury goalies Siano mentioned were starter Corbin Rumbolt (nine saves), and reserve goalie Max Daugherty (six saves).
“Both of their goalies made some unreal saves today,” Siano said. “Hats off to both of those guys in net.”
Drury (4-5) got its best chance to score in the 36th minute. Scott Maguire started the play with a ball over the top of the Belchertown defense. His pass landed with Reece Racette, and the senior broke free down the right wing. Racette, though, was forced a little too wide, and his shot ended up safely in the hands of Christopher Tilton (three saves).
Before the half let out, Rumbolt made a string of nice parries to keep his team in it. The first came after Racette’s effort, with Rumbolt denying a stinging effort from Fournier.
The shot was sent out for a corner, and Fournier stepped up to take the corner. He sailed his pass over the top of the defense and onto the head of Bolton, who scored.
Matt Tilton also played goalie for Belchertown and made three saves.