Senior Day celebration
Balanced attack leads Cardinals to lopsided victory
GREENWICH — Despite a tough one-goal loss to rival New Canaan in its season-opener, the Greenwich girls soccer team showed plenty of positive signs on both ends of the field — aspects that also surfaced Tuesday when FCIAC West Region foe Westhill came to town.
Continuing the solid passing, ball movement and defensive tenacity they displayed in their first game of the season, the Cardinals also showcased the numerous options they have offensively Tuesday against the Vikings.
Capitalizing on two set pieces in the first half enabled Greenwich to gain momentum, which it steadily built upon on its way to a 9-0 Senior Day triumph over Westhill.
“We have some really good new attackers this year and we’ve been working on getting up the sideline and getting it into the box,” said Cardinals senior co-captain Sophia Bastek, who registered a goal. “The pressure we put on them really helped us capitalize on our goals.”
Westhill, which faced a 3-0 halftime deficit, played Greenwich tough in the opening half. The second half, the Cards dominated possession and quickly increased their lead.
“We’re trying to build toward those games in terms of Darien and New Caaan,” GHS coach Simon Rumbold said. “We’re trying to do things better, quicker — our decision making needs to speed up a little bit. I’m happy with the way we came into this game. We got the ball down quickly and were aggressive.”
Isabella Gega, a sophomore, started in goal, before being replaced in the second half by senior Dani Spitz, and the two com
bined on the shutout.
Ashyln Flood, who saw a number of shots come her way, started in net for Westhill (0-3), which also saw Erin Pacifico see action in goal.
Vikings coach Ryan Perkins coached many of the Cardinals’ seniors during his stint as a junior varsity and freshman coach at Greenwich.
“We came in really focused on our defensive responsibilities,” Westhill coach Ryan Perkins said. “We knew how they were going to set up. I coached them for three years here when I was JV coach. There were a couple of mistakes we made and the floodgates open and we were kind of deflated from there. We have to work on that and we have to stay strong against adversity.”
SPARKLING SET PIECES
After Flood made several saves, Greenwich’s first goal came off a corner kick in the 25th minute. Freshan Julia Acosta sent her corner kick into the box and charging hard toward the goal, Skyler Scavo got her right foot on the ball, depositing it inside the right post.
Dribbling the ball down the right sideline, Greenwich junior Kelly Martyanov sent a cross to sophomore Ali Pennella, who finished in front, making it 2-0 with 8:40 remaining in the first half.
Pennella then tallied off a direct kick in the 33rd minute, putting Westhill in a 3-0 hole.
“We’re going to need to work on some passing and attacking, but overall today, we did good,” said Pennella, who tallied twice. “We just have to continue to utilize our attacking players, because we know they are threats.”
SECOND HALF SURGE
Sophomore Sammy Craven converted a penalty kick 3:30 into the second half, the first of six secondhalf goals.
Acosta, Bastek, senior Carly O’Brien, Martyanov and Samantha Younes (senior) added goals in the second half.
“Set pieces was a positive for us and hopefully they will be our strengths,” Rumbold said. “After the first half, we came out with good energy and moved the ball quicker with less touches.”
Perkins knows the game was a learning lesson for his squad.
“We need to work on staying strong when we face adversity,” he said. “I thought we did a good job of sticking with it in the first half.”
QUOTABLE
“We’ve been focusing on possessing the ball, passing it around and just using everyone so, that’s something that worked well today,” said Cardinals senior co-captain Kristen Berzolla, who was one of 13 seniors honored on Senior Day. “After coming back from New Canaan, we were upset we didn’t win, but we were at our best today and came out with the best result.”