ADAM SAMROV

Sports Editor

HOOSICK, N.Y. -- The Hoosick Falls offense sputtered during the first half of the Panthers' matchup with Greenwich.

But like putting a new engine into a car, it roared back to life in the second half, scoring five goals in the final 40 minutes en route to a 7-2 rout on Tuesday at Delurey Field.

"We were getting beat to the ball in the first half," said Hoosick Falls (10-1, 9-0 Wasaren League) coach Tom Husser. "We played five minutes of good soccer. But we got back to playing our game and we put into fifth gear."

The Panthers led 2-1 at the half on goals from Alice Hayden and Mackenzie Hinchliffe, but Greenwich tallied with less than five minutes remaining, boosting the Witches' confidence in pulling an upset.

But after an urgent halftime talk from Husser, the Panthers scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the second half as their lead ballooned to 4-1.

On the first tally, Hayden's precise corner kick found Liz Babson, who headed it past Greenwich goaltender Madlyn Schaefer less than four minutes into the half to extend the lead. Hoosick Falls out-cornered Greenwich 13-4.

"It's nice to see her finish it off," Husser said. "I usually don't have Liz up front, but she's a machine, especially on the corners. It gets the team going, they root for her to score goals."

Then in the 49th minute, Grace Delurey scored her 13th goal of the year, firing a rocket from outside the box that hit the crossbar, then the far post before crossing the goal line. That gave the Panthers a three-goal lead and the rout was on.

"We started to pressure more and step up," said Babson, who scored her first two goals of the season on Wednesday. "Once we made it 4-1, there was less pressure on us and we took advantage of that."

Greenwich added a second goal when Alexis Case scored on a deflected rebound. All that did was seem to fire up the Panthers, who racked up 26 total shots on goal during the match to Greenwich's six.

"They are so aggressive, probably one of the most aggressive teams I've ever coached," Husser said.

"We sometimes put our heads down when that happens, but we didn't want them to get back into the game," Babson said.

The Panthers finished the game with a flourish, potting three more goals in a 10-minute stretch.

Allie Martin scored her fifth goal of the season in the 59th minute, sophomore Casie Main put home a rebound in the 61st minute for her first varsity goal and Babson scooted a shot under the goalie after a perfect feed from Rachel Pine. Delurey and Hinchliffe each added two assists for Hoosick Falls.