Waldron, No. 1 Mills move on to semifinals

BURLINGTON — Lewis Mills girls soccer looked every bit the No. 1 seed in Class M in a dominating 3-0 quarterfinal win over No. 9 Morgan Saturday afternoon at Burlington’s Nassahegan Field.

“That’s a good team; that’s why they’re No. 1,” said Steve Sullivan, who coached the Huskies (143-2) through a second round penalty-kick win over No. 8 North Branford, then ran into a brick wall in the Spartans (18-0).

“The tone was set early and carried throughout — fast paced and in your face. You’re going to have to deal with us for 80 minutes,” Lewis Mills Jared Sheikh said. “The pace was difficult to maintain on such a cold day, but we did it.”

“We’ve all been waiting to see what we can do,” said Spartan Alyssa Wrabel, a senior captain who’s helped Mills knock on the Class M door through semifinal rounds in two of her three previous years as a Spartan.

“I want to go out with a bang,” said fellow senior Chloe Waldron, sandwiching two goals together with one by Wrabel. “Today’s pace shows what heart we have. The girls were huffing and puffing at times, but we have the right mind set.”

True to Sheikh’s direction, the Spartans took it to Morgan and held it there for most of the first half, peppering the Husky defense and goalkeeper Natalie Novarro (10 saves) with 15 shots.

Novarro, a sophomore, represented part of the problem and part of the solution in Morgan’s trip to the quarters.

“We’ve been hampered by injuries,” said Sullivan, who lost his starting keeper to a concussion in the semifinal round of the Shoreline Conference tournament.

Novarro, a field player in just her third game in goal Saturday, made two saves in the winning PK round against North Branford.

“She got us here,” Sullivan said.

Nevertheless, Mills goalie Lauren McCard, another Spartan senior, had Saturday’s first real goalkeeping test just seven minutes into the game on Morgan’s only shot of the half.

Morgan’s Courtney Viglione sent a free kick into the box from the right corner. Alyssa LeMay, pound-

ed it toward the net from just outside the far post. McCard snapped into a dive for the brilliant save.

Mills controlled the play for 20 more minutes, sending one long shot after another to Novarro.

In the 27th minute, Novarro came five yards off the line for a free kick by Spartan Hannah Anderson. In a crowd, the ball slipped off her body. Waldron tapped it into an empty net.

With Mills ahead just 1-0 at the half, both teams shifted gears.

“We decided our shots weren’t strong enough,” said Waldron.

“We changed a couple of people,” said Sullivan, adding to his attack.

Initially, the Huskies came out far more aggressively but seven minutes into the period, they paid a price.

“It opened up more lanes

and (Mills was) more creative in their running,” Sullivan said.

Spartan freshman Abby Mills found a seam with a cross to Wrabel, who pounded her shot home from 15 yards left of Novarro’s net.

Four minutes later, from almost the same spot, Waldron fired another hard shot under Novarro’s grasp.

The game was effectively over.

The Spartans go to the semifinal round next Tuesday or Wednesday at a time and place to be determined against No. 20 Berlin, 2-1 quarterfinal winners over No. 12 Cromwell.

“We want to take it as far as we can go,” Waldron said.