GREENFIELD – For the first 40 minutes of the Greenfield girls soccer team’s matchup with Hopkins Academy on Wednesday afternoon, the Green Wave were trying to adjust to the speed of the Golden Hawks – a team which Greenfield head coach Ben Johnson described as “one of the best teams” his squad has played all year.

Hopkins took advantage of the hosts’ slow start and raced out to a 4-0 lead, and although Greenfield finally found its footing in the second half, it was too late to overcome the Golden Hawks’ early onslaught. The Green Wave fell 4-0, just their third defeat of 2024.

“The second half was much better,” Johnson said. “We adjusted a lot better from the way we’re used to playing in our league, and that’s the way we’re gonna have to play in tournament.”

Four different players recorded a goal – all in the first half – for the Hopkins. Sadie Cyr kicked off the scoring early on in the first half, as she finished on a pass from Ephie Vissas to put the visitors up 1-0. Maggie Potter netted one soon after to double the lead, this time Helen Vissas recording the assist. Helen Vissas then added a goal of her own, using her body to redirect a corner kick into the net on the back post. Her sister Ephie Vissas was the one who took the corner kick to tally her second assist of the day. 

Avery Fillio made it 4-0 Golden Hawks late in the second half, as she took a pass from Zoey Wojtowicz and ran down the right sideline. Fillio cut in toward goal and snuck a beautiful shot by Green Wave goalie Annie Cobileanschi on the short side.

With the Western Mass. tournament kicking off next week, Johnson is urging his players to flush Wednesday’s performance from their system and shift gears.

“It’s a short turnaround, and we gotta get ready for tournament,” Johnson said. “Short-term memory, that’s what we need to have right now. Western Mass. starts next week, so we gotta get rid of this one and prepare for that.”

In the second half, Greenfield (13-3) started to pick up its intensity. Neither team scored in the final 40, but the Green Wave started to possess the ball more, and even had a great chance to score when Tayler Bergeron rifled a shot from just inside the box barely over the cross bar.

Defensively, Greenfield began to settle in, as did Cobileanschi in the box. She recorded a baker’s dozen 13 saves to keep Hopkins off the board in the second half.

Johnson appreciated his team’s consistent effort, and added that they’re going to have to play to that level moving forward in the postseason.

“More possession is gonna be needed, and when you get to this point, we’re not the biggest, fastest or strongest team anymore,” he said. “There are a lot of good teams out there that we’re gonna have to compete against and this was a good test for us.”

A Greenfield offense that has been potent this fall was held in check by Hopkins. Golden Hawks head coach Vincent Catania said he was aware of Green Wave stars Elderina Cecunjanin and Tayler Bergeron, and ensured his team knew where the two of them were at all times.

Most teams in the postseason will look to do the same, so a shift in the offensive game plan may be in the cards for Greenfield.

“Come playoff time, I know we’re used to having them play up, but we’re gonna rotate them around in our offense and our attack,” Johnson said of Cecunjanin and Bergeron, who have combined for over 40 goals this season. “Putting them at different positions may confuse teams and they might not know where they are. If they lose them for a bit, we’ll take advantage of that.”

Emmy Schmidt recorded five saves for Hopkins (14-1-1), which is likely to be the No. 2 seed in the Western Mass. Class D tournament and will host a quarterfinal matchup when the tournament starts next week.

Greenfield (13-3) will be in the Class C tournament, its seed is still to be determined.

Volleyball

Class C semis

Mount Greylock 3, Franklin Tech 0 – The top-seeded Mounties certainly looked the part on Wednesday night, taking down No. 5 Franklin Tech in the semifinal round of the Class C tournament in Williamstown.

Greylock (16-3) stormed out of the gates to capture the opening set 25-7, then finished off a sweep with identical 25-13 scores in the second and third frames.

The Mounties will meet with No. 2 Lenox or No. 5 Mahar in the title match on Saturday. Those teams play the other semifinal on Thursday night.

The Eagles (9-11), which had their four-match win  will now wait and see if they crack the top 32 of the MIAA Division 5 rankings for a spot in the state tournament when brackets are released next week. They sat at No. 36 in the most recent release.