Daniel Hand Tigers’ Girls’ Soccer Shares Southern Connecticut Conference (SCC) Title with Cheshire

The Hand girls' soccer team was forced to its bus after a flash of lightning with 54 seconds left in the second overtime after battling Cheshire to a 0-0 tie through regulation in the SCC finals on Nov. 5 at East Haven High School. Early in the 30-minute lightning delay, which was followed by a heavy downpour, the teams were declared co-champions.

"Tonight I am happy [with being co-champions] for the conditions," said Hand Coach Bob Faulkner. "If it was dry, nice weather and we were healthy, I'd want to play it out and I think they would've played it out, but this was the right call, it was the safest call for the time. We still have 10 or 12 kids who are sick, so in this case, it was a good decision."

Regulation ended in a scoreless tie thanks to the strong defense on both ends of the field and stellar goalkeeping in both nets. The difference for Hand was who was in the goal. Kerry Wallack, who has been the Tigers' mainstay in the net, played through a knee injury to an overtime 1-1 tie against Mercy in the semifinals. Katherine Eastwood took over when the contest went to penalty kicks-which Hand won 3-2 thanks to three saves by Eastwood.

"Kerry is probably the best goalkeeper in the state of Connecticut and when we've not played well, she's carried us on her back and when we are playing well, we're very good," said Faulkner. "After just getting spot time throughout the season, Katherine Eastwood rose to the occasion. We work on penalty kicks every day and it showed."

Eastwood was back in action against Cheshire and was up to the task as the Rams put immediate pressure on the Tigers. Just four minutes in, Cheshire's Jenna Hart flew past the defense, going one-on-one with Eastwood, who charged. With the pressure, Hart's shot went over the net.

From there, much of the first half was played at midfield with long shots being lobbed at the goalkeepers. Hand's Meghan Derken, Laura Brink, Kendra Lena, and Lianna Simms used pinpoint passing to create scoring opportunities for the Tigers, but Cheshire's defense held strong to enter halftime tied 0-0.

Ten minutes into the second half, Eastwood preserved the scoreless tie when she leapt to get her fingertips on Claudia Martinez's bullet from the 18 and tipped it over the crossbar to give Cheshire a corner-the first corner for either team. The Tigers' defensive line of Hannah Stone, Amanda Leonardi, Laura Jackson, and Becca Church quickly cleared the threat as they had done through the entire game.

"We got Hannah Stone back for the first time in three or four games after she was out with a concussion," said Faulkner. "Tonight the defense was amazing with Hannah Stone at sweeperback, along with Becca Church, Laura Jackson, and Amanda Leonardi."

Five minutes later, Hand had two close calls as Derken and Lena worked the ball down to earn the Tigers' first corner. Hand continued to pressure as Lena dribbled in, turned around a defender, and took a shot that went inches wide.

Hand created numerous chances in the final 10 minutes of regulation as Leonardi's free kick found Lena, who headed a ball on goal and Derken charged down the field and dished the ball to Simms, who took a hard shot that sent Cheshire's goalkeeper diving for the save.

Cheshire's Mamee Dupoint broke free of Hand's defenders with three minutes to play and as Eastwood prepared to make the save, Dupoint sent her shot wide right. The Tigers earned a corner in the final minute, but the Rams made the clear to send the game into two 10-minute sudden-death overtimes.

With 3:30 to play in the first overtime, Hand's Lena dribbled the ball into the corner where she made a nice turn to send a cross to Derken, whose shot went just wide.

Cheshire put Hand's defense to work in the second overtime. Just a minute in, Amanda Roke fired a long-range shot aimed just under the crossbar, but Eastwood knocked the ball away for a corner that Hand's defense quickly cleared.

The Rams, however, came right back with three shots. As thunder started rumbling, a flurry of Cheshire players crowded the net. Eastwood punched a shot away from the goal and then made a save on the next as the referees sent the teams off of the field due to lightning.

"Cheshire's a great team, not just a good team, and they're well-coached," said Faulkner, whose team claimed the No. 3 seed in the Class L State Tournament and earned a bye in the first round. "We're a different team when we're healthy and can play faster but right now we don't have much gas in the tank. We'll regroup and hopefully the kids will get rid of this cold and we'll get healthy and start states at a good time."