Set pieces help Staples blank Trumbull

WESTPORT — Stick around soccer long enough and invariably you’ll hear a coach or pundit waxing poetic about the value of set pieces — especially in knockout games.

The Staples girls soccer team found this out the hard way last season, losing to Ridgefield in the Class LL final on a pair of goals from dead-ball situations. The Wreckers learned from it and used it as an opportunity to hone their own prow- ess on set plays this season.

Those skills were on full display Friday afternoon in Staples’ 3-0 victory over FCIAC rival Trumbull in a Class LL quarterfinal played at rainy Bedford Middle School. The fifth-seeded Wreckers scored twice from set pieces in the first half and advance to next week’s semifinals against No. 1

Glastonbury.

“Coming into this season we were really focusing on set plays,” said Reese Sutter, who scored a 30-yard rocket that made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute. “We’ve been really practicing our kicks.”

Staples needed less than 10 minutes to make it 1-0 when Gabriela Gonzalez nodded in Ashley Wright’s corner from the right side for the freshman’s first goal of the season.

“She’s been desperate for one all season,” Staples coach Barry Beattie said.

Sutter made it 2-0 before the half with her brilliant individual strike. Standing over the ball, she consulted

with Wright — who usually adds more bend — and decided to go for power herself, blasting it into the upper right corner from well outside the penalty area.

“I figured I would try something new and take a different approach to drive it,” Sutter said.

Although the Wreckers (15-1-3) spend time on set plays, Beattie simply tipped his cap to Sutter for her shot from the middle-left side of the field.

“That free kick from Reese was all her,” he said. “I can’t take any credit for that one.”

Down two goals, No. 13 seed Trumbull mounted a fightback, but couldn’t get much going in front of the Staples goal. The best

chances for the Eagles (13-7) came on long-range attempts by senior Daniella Milovanov. Her shot from distance in the second half prompted Staples’ keeper Zoe Barnett to punch it over the bar for a corner.

“We’re probably the smallest team, to be fair, in our league,” Trumbull coach Richard Sutherland said. “We do lack a little bit in height. We knew we’d be up against it because they’ve got a bit of height and are good on set pieces.”

Staples made it 3-0 with 15 minutes left on a goal by Kathryn Ialeggio.

“They’ll be a hard team to beat,” Sutherland said.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Reese Sutter, Staples. The junior’s driven free kick from 30 yards away in the first half changed the game and gave the Wreckers one foot into the semifinals.

QUOTABLE

“I don’t know if losing in the final was extra motivation, our girls just really focused on one game to another. They take the task at hand. Trumbull is a good team and they don’t stop working. So for us to come up with that 3-0 is a massive result.” — Staples coach Barry Beattie on losing in the 2017 Class LL final and its effect on this year’s run to the semifinals.