This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

North Branford Girls’ Soccer Enjoying its Best Year with Coach Kozloski

The North Branford girls’ soccer team has put together a stellar campaign and, for the first time in Head Coach Pat Kozloski’s four years with the program, the Thunderbirds are gearing up for a trip to the Class M State Tournament. North Branford sealed its berth a couple of weeks ago and earned a pair of ties last week to stand at 6-2-5 for the season.

“The amazing thing about that is that we’re not only making it, but we’re comfortably in. It’s nice that the girls did what they needed to do early on, so we didn’t have to be counting points moving forward,” said Kozloski of the team’s postseason berth. “It’s nice that [seniors] Kelly [Oliver] and Deanna [Sgambato] got in their senior year. They worked so hard and everything came together. I think the girls work so hard, starting in early July getting fit, some are playing year-around now, so I think it’s nice to see that. The things I’ve been asking them to do, they’re doing, and they’re getting rewarded for their efforts.”

In last week’s action, North Branford played to a 1-1 tie against Cromwell on Oct. 13 and then battled to a 0-0 draw versus Valley Regional two days later. Locking down the opposition’s offense is nothing new for the Thunderbirds this year as goalie Allie Augur and company have recorded eight shutouts, while limiting their opponents to seven total goals on the campaign.

“The one common denominator is the girls defend with a passion and a stinginess that they fight for everything and are always helping each other out. They just work so hard that it makes it difficult to do what the opposing team wants to do,” Kozloski said. “Allie came into the high school unlike anything I’ve ever seen. She’s obviously an amazing player, but she has this professionalism about her where she wants to make her teammates better and brings the most out of them. She demands excellence of her teammates and that helps us become a better soccer team, having that professional demeanor.”

Augur made six saves in the Cromwell contest and Sgambato scored the T-Birds’ lone goal. The equalizer came in the second half after North Branford had fallen behind early and Coach Kozloski views that as an encouraging sign.

“We just battled. Allie made some amazing saves to keep them at only one goal. Deanna found a way to put the ball in the back of the net,” he said. “The fact that the girls came back, we went down 1-0 at halftime and they kept working. They kept trusting the system and what we were asking them to do and they finished. It’s great to see that we don’t have to score the first goal to get the result.”

Against Valley, Augur made four saves to earn the shutout. She had a few big stops in each half as Kozloski said Valley held the ball in North Branford’s end for a majority of the game. The Thunderbirds’ defenders worked together to keep the ball out of the net and help them pick up another point in a year that’s seen North Branford raise the bar from previous seasons.

“The fact that we battle so hard and work together, it is certainly something that’s been consistent this whole season. The players know what’s expected of them and expected of the type of soccer we’re going to play,” Kozloski said. “We now can fine tune things, where the first couple of years, everybody was still adjusting to the new system of play. There’s certainly more continuity, which is very helpful.”