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11/06/2016 12:00 AMAfter putting together an excellent regular season and then reaching its first SCC Tournament final in seven years, the Hand girls’ soccer squad showcased its skills on the big stage in a classic championship battle that went the distance.
The top-seeded Tigers finished the regular season at 12-1-3 and claimed the SCC Quinnipiac Division crown before making the conference final behind consecutive in the quarterfinals and the semis. Facing No. 2 seed Cheshire in the championship game at West Haven on Nov. 3, Hand and the Rams were deadlocked at 1 following 80 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, leaving the conference champion to be decided by penalty kicks. In that session, Cheshire narrowly outlasted Hand 5-4 to take the title.
“If the second overtime were longer, I’d like to think we’d have a great chance to get that winning goal. We started great in PKs, but they had a great attitude and held their heads up after the game, and I’m proud of the group,” said Head Coach David Dikranian, who’s in his third year as head coach. “Making the final is a tremendous achievement. Beating Lauralton Hall twice and winning the division was great because they were one of the top three teams we’ve played. We beat a good West Haven team and we were pretty even with Cheshire. The game could’ve gone either way, so we feel really good about ourselves.”
Senior netminder Lily Geshwind continued her superb postseason by making nine saves as the Rams (16-3) narrowly outshot Hand 16-13. The game marked another solid showing from a Tigers’ defense that’s been stingy throughout the campaign.
“It starts from the keeper out. Lily is a tremendous athlete. She plays with a lot of heart and is very focused. It was big for us having her here,” said Dikranian. “Heather Baughan played sparingly last year, but won the starting job this year and has been solid as a rock. With her ability to clear and win balls, she’s one of the best center backs in the SCC. Hannah Martin is a steady center back that does the little things well. One of our senior captains, Sam Mayhew, was moved from mid to center back and has excelled at shutting down attacker and has found her niche. Our other captain, Nicole Luongo, is also strong at outside back. Vivianna Mazzarella moved to outside back and is able to dribble the ball out of the back and does most of our corner kicks. All of them have really improved and shut down players, which helps maintain possession. It also takes attention to details from the midfielders and forwards.”
Following a scoreless first half, Lila McNamee gave the Rams a 1-0 lead with a strike at 72:15 and then junior Gabby Egidio evened up the game for the Tigers (14-2-3) at the 77:49 mark on an assist from junior Taylor Scully.
Following a see-saw first overtime session, Hand had a handful of strong opportunities for that golden goal in the second OT, including a few just sailed just above the net. However, the Tigers couldn’t put one home and so the contest went to penalty kicks. Scoring for the Tigers on the PKs were junior Riley Kokoruda, senior Luongo, junior Ashleigh Violette, and junior Mazzarella. Cheshire scored five times and came away with the victory.
“I thought it was a hard-fought game by both teams. The game changed to where we started to control the ball and apply pressure,” said Dikranian. “The momentum shifted back and forth, but we felt good going into the second half. We turned the ball over at 7:45 of the second half and they countered it with the first goal. We pushed to a 3-4-3 formation to get more numbers in the box.”
Previously in the semifinal round on Nov. 1 against No. 5 seed West Haven, Hand won emphatically with a 6-0 final. Goals came from Mazzarella (2), freshman Kayla Howard, sophomore Sophia Dickman, junior Delancy Skelly, and senior Helena Stein.
Hand now enters the Class L State Tournament as the No. 8 seed with a home game against No. 25 Rockville in the first round on Monday, Nov. 7. Even though his Tigers took a tough loss in the conference championship game, Coach Dikranian said the setback could prove the perfect recipe for his team to aggressively strive toward an even bigger prize in a state crown.
“We feel good about ourselves. Losing here makes them hungrier. It was like when we lost to Guilford this year for our first loss. It motivated us to get better and we won the rest of our games from there,” said Dikranian. “This Cheshire loss did the same thing. We feel confident and I think we’ll do well in states. We just have to keep executing.”
From the Sidelines
Heather Baughan, Lily Geshwind, Riley Kokoruda, Taylor Scully, and Kayla Howard were All-SCC Quinnipiac Division Team selections for Hand this fall. Geshwind and Kokoruda made the First Team, while Scully and Howard made the Second Team.
This was Hand’s first SCC Tournament final appearance since 2009, when the Tigers were declared co-champions with Cheshire after a scoreless draw. The Tigers’ last outright conference crown was in 2008. Prior to that, the Tigers’ SCC titles came in 1998 and 1999.
Entering the SCC final, Hand had allowed only six goals on the season and pitched 13 shutouts, including four straight entering the Cheshire clash.
Assisting Head Coach David Dikranian this year are Brett Donohue, Bob Dikranian, and Shane Smith.