By David Fierro
The past five seasons saw Greenwich High School’s girls varsity soccer team register winning records while giving the premier teams in the FCIAC and state all they could handle and more.
Watching the Cardinals display their depth, talent and skill while competing against Fairfield Ludlowe in their season-opening game, it was apparent an especially strong run in the FCIAC and state tournaments could be in the Cards this fall.
Scoring one goal in each half, Greenwich kicked off its 2025 campaign in fine form, earning a convincing 2-0 victory over Fairfield Ludlowe in an FCIAC matchup held on Sept. 3 at Cardinal Stadium.
“It was a really positive start,” Greenwich head coach Simon Rumbold said. “It was convincing and I felt we had control of the game for the most part. Possession and shots on goal, shows that story too.”
The Cardinals, who hosted state/FCIAC powerhouse St. Joseph today (Sept. 5), are coming off a stellar 2024 campaign in which they posted a record of 7-5-3 in the FCIAC, good for 24 points, qualifying them for both the FCIAC and CIAC Class LL Tournaments.
In the 2024 CIAC Class LL Tournament, Greenwich topped Shelton, 3-0, in the first round and played extremely well while being edged by St. Joseph, 1-0, in the second round. Top-seeded St. Joseph proceeded to win the Class LL state championship, defeating Ridgefield, 2-1, in the final. The 2023 season saw the Cardinals advance all the way to the quarterfinal round of the CIAC Class LL tourney, where they lost in dramatic fashion to Staples, 2-1, in a game decided in penalty kicks. Greenwich beat Wilton and Southington in the opening two rounds of the 2023 state tournament.
Greenwich’s three 2025 captains – Julia Gustafsson, Anna Lenschow and Ella Whitridge have experienced the squad’s impressive success the past several seasons and are primed to help lead the Cards to greater success this fall.
As Rumbold noted, Gustafsson has been a member of the varsity squad since her freshman year and has started every game, while Lenschow and Whitridge have also been mainstays on the varsity team.
“We’re feeling pretty confident about the season,” said Lenschow, a center midfielder, who received All-FCIAC First Team honors for the 2024 season. “We have a lot of new additions this year to our team that are really going to help us move forward throughout the season where they can come on and make an instant impact.”
Lenschow, who was active throughout Greenwich’s 2-0 triumph against Ludlowe in the season-opener for both teams on Sept. 3, solidifies the Cards’ midfield along with junior Kenna Harlow. Gustaffson and Whitridge excelled in the season-opening win as well, propelling Greenwich’s outstanding and efficient defensive effort. Greenwich enjoyed the possession edge in a big way against Fairfield Ludlowe and when the Falcons did have the ball, the Cardinals’ backline defenders cleared it out of harm’s way, enabling their team to go on the attack.
“Julia has played basically every minute since she was a freshman, she is a key defender on the team,” Rumbold said. “Ella since sophomore year has been a key defender on the team.”
Indeed, like her fellow captains, Gustaffson embraces her role as one of the squad’s leaders.
“We have such a good team this year, so being able to be a leader on it is great.” Gustaffson said. “Using what we know as players and our experience and giving it to freshmen – it’s a really cool experience.”
Gustaffson appreciates the togetherness the team has exhibited in all areas of the field.
“In past years, we’ve always had good people on the team,” she said. “This year, the chemistry is really good and I think using that on and off the field will really help us get to where we want to go. We want to make it far in states and far in FCIACs.”
Junior Shay Sippel is also a returning defender, the team is relying upon to power the backline.
“We work as a unit and our job is to keep the field compact and keep the game at a pace that we play at the whole game and I think we did a good job of that,” said Whitridge following the Cardinals’ shutout win versus Ludlowe. “We’ve been working really hard in the preseason and we’ve done really well in our scrimmages. With the new additions, we’ve been working on building team chemistry and I think we did that really well today.”
Siena Ettinger, one of the Cardinals’ new additions, scored the team’s first goal of the season. A freshman forward, her first-half goal gave GHS a 1-0 lead on Ludlowe. Junior forward Gabriella Cimador converted a shot from approximately 10 yards out with 27:12 remaining in the second half, putting the Cardinals on top of the Falcons, 2-0.
Senior Harriet Franks returns as a scoring threat at forward, where she created a lot of chances for GHS against Ludlowe. Ettinger, Cimador, junior Ashley Morris and freshman Sophia Gega are also among some of Greenwich’s top offensive athletes.
Sophomore Taylor DeVries begins her first season as the starting goalie for GHS, a role 2025 graduate Lauren Huang successfully filled the previous two seasons. The upcoming week has Greenwich visiting Wilton on Sept. 9 and Bridgeport Central on Sept. 11. Greenwich’s next home game is Sept. 17 against FCIAC rival Staples.
“Our goal this year is to definitely make it to a far stage in FCIACs and states,” Lenschow said. “We’ve been building up in previous years to reach this point and we’re really excited where we’re going this year.”
As for being one of the Cards’ captains?
“It feels nice, we have a good team behind us and I’m excited that I get to lead the team with my fellow captains,” Lenschow noted.
Said Whitridge: “The best thing that we have to do is communicate with each other and act together and keep the field secure. We need to continue to put in more hard work, communicate with each other and trust in each other, which I think we’re all going to be doing really well.”
