Sports: Four-time defending champion Old Lyme girls reach Class S soccer final again
Old Lyme earns shot at fifth straight Class S soccer championship
Middletown — Old Lyme is good at playing in the state tournament. So good.
For the fifth straight season, the Old Lyme High School girls' soccer team will end its season in the Class S state championship game Saturday after a 2-0 shutout Wednesday of No. 13 Northwest Catholic, a team Old Lyme coach Paul Gleason would later say humbled him to watch play.
As improbable as it may seem, especially with the graduation of all-time leading scorer Mya Johnson, currently playing at Connecticut College, eighth-seeded Old Lyme (14-3-4) will look for state championship No. 5 in a row, remaining unbeaten now for 21 straight Class S tournament games.
Old Lyme meets No. 3 Holy Cross in the final at 10 a.m. Saturday at Willow Brook Park in New Britain, with Holy Cross eliminating No. 7 Litchfield in the other semifinal Wednesday.
"I came here with every intention of winning, but I knew we were facing one of the best teams in the state," a jubilant Gleason said. "They outplayed us, beat us to the ball. We got lucky tonight. They had opportunities but they didn't put it away."
Old Lyme did take advantage of its opportunities.
The Wildcats scored just 7 minutes, 34 seconds into the first half, while the game was still getting settled.
Senior Lydia Tinnerello followed the ball to the right corner of the net and threaded it between the goalie and the goal post for a 1-0 lead. Tin
nerello scored again with 55 seconds remaining in the first half to then put Old Lyme up by a more comfortable two-goal margin.
The second goal was set up by a free kick from Emily DeRoehn, who blasted the ball in front of the cage, where Abby Manthous tapped it from left to right to a waiting Tinnerello.
Old Lyme's defense, along with goalie Sam Gray, followed through with a shutout, one game after blanking top-seeded Housatonic Regional in the quarterfinals, a game which the Wildcats won in penalty kicks (7-5) after a 0-0 tie in regulation.
Old Lyme started the string of state titles in 2015 as the No. 5 seed, tying Notre Dame of Fairfield 2-2 to share the championship. Old Lyme was the No. 2 seed in 2016 when it edged Old Saybrook 1-0 for the title and the top-rated team in 2017 when it defeated Holy Cross 2-1 in double overtime.
Old Lyme won the title as the No. 14 seed a year ago, topping Immaculate 2-1 on a pair of goals by Johnson and finishing the tournament 5-0.
"Our mindset, we take each game as they come," Tinnerello said of whether she thought Old Lyme could climb back to the finals one more time headed into this particular tournament. "We go into each game with a winning mindset."
What has allowed Old Lyme to be successful this season yet again?
"Hard work, a positive mindset, confidence in ourselves that we could make it back here," said Tinnerello, who will play lacrosse in college next year at Merrimack.
"I have to tell you, it felt good," Gleason said of the victory. "We were compromised by their speed and strength. It's startling to see a high school team that skilled and strong. They have a girl who could hit the ball three-quarters of the field on a line drive. It's humbling to see. We got lucky."