The Greenwich High School girls soccer team had a scare in the opening round of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference class LL tournament against Cheshire High School Monday afternoon at Cardinal Stadium.
However a perfectly placed kick off the boot of senior Emily Berzolla gave Big Red the 2-1 victory and propelled them to the second round.
“To be quite honest, I think [Cheshire] played the better football today,” Greenwich High School head coach Danny Simpson said. “Credit to James [Luis] and his Cheshire squad. They played some really nice balls today and got a lot of pressure. [Saige Bingman] was a handful and they asked a lot of questions of our defense. This is our 22nd game of the year and our defense has been stellar all the way. They absolutely stood up today.”
With the score knotted at 1-1 and time winding down in the second half, Greenwich’s Berzolla was awarded a free kick to the right side of the net. After lining up the defense, Berzolla drilled a missile that eluded the Cheshire defense and ended up inches from the right post and out of the reach of the CHS goalie for the 2-1 advantage with 11:53 to play in the contest.
“I saw the goalie set up the wall to one side,” Berzolla said. “Usually you set up a wall and it covers one side of the goal, but I saw it gap on the side. I just hit it right where I saw the gap and it turned out well.”
Surprisingly this was first time this season that Greenwich has scored on a free kick like that.
“When you get on offense and you have a player as special as Emily, anything could happen at a given moment,” Simpson said. “What a phenomenal way to win a game off a free kick. We tried to overload one side to give her a view, but the technique of hitting the ball so firm and so accurate, the keeper didn’t have a chance.”
And Berzolla’s goal couldn’t have come at a better time. Throughout a good portion of the first half and in the second, the Rams were more aggressive and controlling play a little more than Big Red was expecting. Thankfully for the Lady Cardinals, the defense kept up its strong play.
Leading the way on defense for GHS against Cheshire was the foursome of Amanda Yu, Katherine Doyle, Melanie Murphy and Katie Harford, along with goalie Emma Barefoot between the pipes.
“They were trying to break us down, but a fantastic job by our defense,” Simpson said.
While the defense was playing to its stellar standards, Big Red had several chances at finding the back of the net early.
With 33:45 to play in the first half, Kim Kockenmeister took the crossing pass in front of the net and fired a shot, but the ball sailed just high over the net.
Less than 10 minutes later, Big Red was once again on the attack, as Anna Giannuzzi had a break up the middle of the field and challenged Cheshire goalie Sam Mathews, however it was the Rams’ goalie that got to the ball first.
Finally with 20:07 to play in the first half, Big Red got on the board first. Giannuzzi blasted a shot on net that was originally saved by Mathews in goal. However Katherine Gallagher was there to gain control of the rebound and push the ball in the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Three minutes into the second half, Greenwich had another chance to extend the lead, as Katherine Doyle was awarded a free kick. Her solid kick, to the right of the net, arched to the left and had a chance at going in, but Cheshire goalie Mathews was once again there to grab the ball out of harm’s way.
“She does a very good job,” Cheshire High School head coach James Luis said. “She’s focal and very secure.”
Less than two minutes later, Cheshire scored the equalizer. With 35:28 to play, Saige Bingman was fouled in the box and was awarded the penalty kick. Her shot was originally saved by Greenwich’s Barefoot, as she dove to her left to make the gorgeous save. However Bingman was able to gain control of the rebound and bury the shot in the net to force the 1-1 tie.
“I know Danny [Simpson] really well and the opponent came out the way I thought they would,” Luis said. “They were very organized and were a big physical team, but to be honest with you, I thought we were certainly the better team in the first half. We were able to keep possession, create more opportunities than them, but we were unable to capitalize on more of them.”
Throughout the contest, it was obvious that it wasn’t going to be just another contest. Greenwich was in a physical game that they weren’t used to, as players like Giannuzzi, Treloara Harrison and Berzolla were taken down to the ground quite a bit in the contest.
“I think they surprised us a little bit with their physicality,” Simpson said. “They weren’t dirty and it was a fair contest, but we some times overlook the fact that there are other good conferences in the state. Everybody talks up the FCIAC, but credit to Cheshire. If they were ever in the FCIAC, they would be a very strong team to play against.”
“We were 4-7-4, so if we had this kind of performance throughout the year, there’s no way we are 4-7-4. We are a much higher rank and we are not playing against Greenwich.
With the victory, Greenwich advanced to the CIAC class LL second round and will host No. 24 Conard High School, as they upset No. 9 seeded Windsor 1-0 in their opening round contest.
“State games are definitely different from the FCIAC,” Berzolla said. “I think state games are more physical. I think it’s more about battling it out. There are a lot of free kicks and I think we capitalized on that. We came with the home field advantage and I think they definitely gave us a really good game. They are very strong and very technical.”
