WILLIAMSTOWN -- Nathan Majumder is known for his offense, not his defense. The Mount Greylock central midfielder made that painfully clear Monday against North Division opponent Wahconah.
Just 3 minutes, 30 seconds into the game, Majumder lost his mark on a corner kick and suddenly the Mounties had yielded their first goal of the season.
"I thought I could get up and head that one out because that was my guy who scored," Majumder said. "I think I need to work on that a little more."
In the meantime, he more than made up for it in the remaining 76:30, scoring two goals and assisting on two others to power the Mounties to a 4-1 win and gain control of the North.
Greylock entered Monday's game one point behind Wahconah in the standings with one game in hand. With the win, the Mounties now have six points and leap-frog past the Warriors into first in the division. Greylock is 3-0 in the North.
"So we knew they were going to give us a hard game," goalkeeper Sean Houston said. "We're happy to come out with a solid result."
Just 5:31 after Nick Montferret gave the Warriors an early lead, Majumder dribbled through traffic and hit Eric Hirsch perfectly in stride with a through ball behind the defense. As quick as Greylock found itself down, it knotted the score at 1.
But 10 minutes later, Majumder showed his defensive shortcomings again on the exact same play. This time, Montferret played the corner off his right
"I personally have to work on [marking] because I'm mostly on the offensive end when we're working on it," the senior captain said. "I think that I'm going to do whatever's helpful for the team. I know I was playing well offensively [Monday], and if somebody else can mark Montferret better, then be my guest. I don't want to give up a goal again."
The Warriors had no answer for Majumder at the other end, though. With 17:52 left in the first half, Felix Kershaw served a beautiful ball from the right flank into the middle of the 18-yard box and Majumder didn't misjudge the header, sending it right past keeper Nick Tutela to give Greylock the lead.
With 5:19 left, Majumder had been moved from his central midfield position to the forward line and made his presence known again. After gaining control to the right of the net near the touchline, he closed in on Tutela and at the last second gave a quick fake to freeze the keeper. Majumder fed Grant Raphael at the goal mouth for an easy goal and a 3-1 lead heading into halftime.
Majumder completed his offensive contributions with a nice individual effort with 9:34 to play, turning a defender around and beating another to the open space before ripping a right-footed shot for his ninth goal of the season.
"We have some flexibility [in the midfield] this year," Dils said. "So I can play [Majumder] up front, I can play him in the midfield. He's so dangerous 1-on-1."
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