Cadets march into finals
Top-seeded St. Joseph tops Waterford in dominant fashion
WEST HAVEN — For the first time in four years, St. Joseph will be going back to the CIAC Class L girls’ soccer championship.
The top-seeded Cadets reached the final with dominating 4-0 victory over 4th-seeded Waterford Tuesday night at Ken Strong Stadium.
St. Joseph (18-1-1) will meet No. 10 Simsbury either Saturday or Sunday in the Class L final at Dillon Stadium in Hartford. Simsbury ousted No. 6 E.O. Smith, 1-0, Tuesday
night in the other semifinal. The last time St. Joseph played in a state final, it captured its third consecutive Class L crown.
“I love being in the finals,” St. Joseph coach Jack Nogueira said. “These girls come to St. Joe’s to be in the finals, so we’ll be ready to play.”
From the opening whistle, it was all maroon and gold. St. Joseph kept the Lancers on their heels thanks to a huge advantage in speed and had a decisive 12-4 advantage in shots.
Waterford goalkeeper Mckenzie Gregory (eight saves) kept the Lancers (14-3-2) in the game in the first 35-plus minutes making a host of saves, including a couple diving ones to keep the game scoreless.
However, with just 4:20 left until halftime, St. Joseph finally broke through. Alexa Pino’s corner kick rattled through a group in front of the net and Caroline Sheehan finished it off, knocking a lefty shot past Gregory to make it 1-0.
“They attack those corner kicks well,” Waterford coach Chris Ghiglia said. “We sat a little deeper. If we opened up the field, they would have tore us to shreds.”
It remained 1-0 for the first nine minutes of the second half. Marin Mahoney of Waterford gave the Lancers their best chance of the game, but St. Joseph goalkeeper Emily Robinson (four saves) was up to the challenge.
“That was a great save,” Noguei
ra said. “She didn’t get too many opportunities to save the ball. I always tell her she has to stay in the game. That was their one dangerous opportunity in the whole game, but she came up big for us.”
Less than a minute later, Ava Cumello’s shot went past Gregory into the net to make it 2-0, which was essentially an insurmountable lead considering the way the Cadets were possessing the ball.
“We knew we’d have to be a little more defensive,” Ghiglia said. “The idea was to keep it 1-0 as long as we could. When they got the second goal, it was really tough at that point. Then they just went into fifth gear at the end and they are just at a different level.”
Sara Parker converted another corner kick by
Pino into a goal midway through the second half. Hanah Silva closed out the scoring by knocking a loose ball into the net from about 10 yards out with just 14:39 remaining.
QUOTEABLE
“That’s been the way we’ve played in the last couple games. We won, 4-0, but if it wasn’t for their goalie, it probably could have been six or seven. I’m happy with the way we kept our intensity level up and our relentless energy to try and chase and get another goal. After we scored one, we wanted to get another one.” — St. Joseph coach Jack Nogueira