SOUTH HADLEY – With seconds left on the clock, the South Hadley girls soccer team knew it had an edge over Agawam, but the Tigers still weren’t comfortable.
Leading just 1-0 thanks to some spectacular goalkeeping from Agawam’s Joann Schmuck, the Tigers needed a goal to give them a little security.
Sophomore Allison Fleury was happy to oblige.
With the clock winding down in the contest, South Hadley’s Lauren Marjanski flew up the right side of the field and sent a long shot pass behind Schmuck in net, where a waiting Fleury tapped it home at the far post with just 13 seconds remaining in the contest.
“You never know whether the goalie is going to bob it around or tap it away. I was just there for the finish,” Fleury said. “It was only 1-0, it was a really scary, nailbiter game. We were just trying to stay composed as a team to keep that 1-0 lead. That chance really mattered at the end of the game.”
Thanks to Fleury’s late tally in the waning seconds, the Tigers walked away with the 2-0 win to improve to 9-1-1 this season, though Agawam threw everything it could at the home team. South Hadley keeper Drew Alley was never rattled, making eight saves in net for the shutout.
Schmuck finished with 10 saves, keeping her team in the contest until the final seconds of the game.
The two teams went into halftime locked in a scoreless game, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. The Tigers had five corner kick opportunities in the first half of the contest but couldn’t put any away. South Hadley tried to use its speed to get around the Agawam defense and had the beginnings of a few golden opportunities that Schmuck snuffed out. The keeper played an aggressive style all game long, running far out of her net to grab any long passes before they could find a South Hadley player.
“At halftime we talked about how she comes out, she’s not afraid to go get the ball. So when you get that shot, you have to take it, you don’t need the extra touch,” Fleury said. “We really just talked about how we have to work together as a team. That’s our biggest thing, and winning the middle of the field, getting it out wide, working together, getting the ball in and taking all of our chances.”
Marjanski made the most of a wide-open opportunity in the 49th minute. The senior forward isn’t often left wide open, but a ball bounced off a defender and came right over to Marjanski, who fired a rocket from the right side to make it 1-0 Tigers.
Agawam (3-8) had plenty of chances to find an equalizer, especially in the second half. Schmuck made two huge stops five minutes apart on Marjanski to prevent her from doubling the Tigers’ lead, and Agawam had a pair of direct kicks along with an indirect kick chance that all sailed just wide. Whatever shots from the visitors did get on net were scooped up by Alley.
From the very start of the game, it was a physical contest between the two teams. South Hadley wanted to match the physicality that Agawam came in with, knowing that bringing the intensity would help lead the hosts to a win.
“I think really (we) just had to be aggressive, and match their aggression and play clean, but still be very aggressive,” Fleury said. “The most important thing is the ball and just stay together as a team.”
The Tigers will host another game this week when Chicopee Comp (6-2-1) comes to town on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Hannah Bevis can be reached at hbevis@gazettenet.com. Follow her on Twitter @Hannah_Bevis1.