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11/12/2016 11:00 PMThe Morgan girls’ soccer team entered the Class M State Tournament in a bit of an scoring drought, but when the draw opened up, the Huskies got back into their offensive groove in a big way by posting a dominant victory in first round action.
Morgan had scored only two goals in its previous four games entering states and went 1-2-1 in that stretch. As the No. 19 seed in Class M, the Huskies opened states on the road with a contest at No. 14 Wilcox Tech on Nov. 7. The Huskies showed that they were road warriors by notching an 8-0 shutout to advance to the second round, where they took a 4-1 loss to No. 3 seed Lewis Mills on Nov. 9. Morgan finished the campaign with a winning record of 9-8-2.
“We came out working the ball around the field the way we like to,” said Head Coach Megan Kilbride Wilcox Tech win. “We were getting the ball in the offensive third of the field and it was great starting states off on the right foot. We were able to create scoring opportunities, which was huge since we haven’t been able to do that recently.”
Morgan’s goal scorers against Wilcox Tech (10-6-1) included juniors Courtney Viglione, Robin Vuilleumier, Mikayla Mancini, and Brianna Navarra, along with sophomores Alyssa LeMay and Maddi Emmi. Assisting on scores were LeMay, Mancini, Viglione, plus sophomores Issy Ranaudo and Kylee Clifton and freshman Maddie Stopkowski.
“Once you get into states, it’s a new year and anything can happen. I told the girls that crazier things have happened in states, like with Portland winning the [2014 Class S] final a few years ago,” said Coach Kilbride. “Putting the ball in the net was key for us. It was good for the group to score and win on the road, especially with them being so young.”
The Huskies gave themselves a 2-0 lead 15 minutes into the game when Vuilleumier scored at the 3:10 juncture of the first half. Mancini followed with a score exactly 15 minutes into the period. Four minutes and 27 seconds later, Navarra scored before LeMay pushed another past the Wilcox Tech keeper for a 4-0 command at 20:54. The opening stanza was capped off by goals from Viglione (at 26:48) and Emmi (with 9:19 left before intermission).
The Huskies tacked on a few more scores in the second half thanks to freshmen Maura Kelly and Natalie Novarro. Senior keeper Kate Driscoll and sophomore Becca Cockley combined for the shutout as Morgan won the shots-on-goal battle by a decisive 17-1 margin.
Facing Lewis Mills, the Huskies hung tight by scoring a goal five minutes before halftime off the foot of LeMay to trail 2-1 at the break. However, Lewis Mills (17-2) scored two insurance goals in the second half and went on to the 4-1 win. Driscoll made eight saves with the Huskies being narrowly outshot 12-8.
As a result of losing to Valley Regional in the opening round of the Shoreline Conference Tournament, Morgan had a week off from game play prior to states. Coach Kilbride said she made sure that the Huskies got plenty of practice putting the ball in net leading up to their second phase of the postseason.
“You always want to have that extra league tournament game versus having a week off, but the Shoreline Conference is so competitive, and you see that this year with a team like North Branford making the final. Valley is a very good team and there were some opportunities we should’ve capitalized on, but you have to score to win,” said Kilbride of her team’s 1-0 loss to Valley in the conference quarterfinals. “Last week, we took Sunday and Monday off, then we came back with a high-intensity practice on Tuesday before an annual kickball game on Wednesday. After a Thursday off, we were back at it Friday once we knew our first states opponent. We just kept working on getting in the offensive third. We focused on repetition with our offense to the point where things became second nature and it showed against Wilcox.”
Entering the year with such a young squad, Kilbride knew that things would be a work in progress for Morgan this season. Still, the fact that her club maintained a strong level of play in a quality conference throughout the campaign speaks volumes about the heart of the 2016 Huskies.
“Coming into the year, I knew we would have ups and downs. We didn’t get too high or low on ourselves and we learned from the games we should’ve won,” said Kilbride. “The number of times we scored and not get shut out in games, it helped us pick up the wins and, when we did lose, it didn’t hurt as much. To get into the Shoreline Tournament as a young team, it was huge, because it showed the girls that they can compete in the future.”
From the Sidelines
Morgan finished 8-6-2 in the regular season and then lost a 1-0 contest to Valley Regional in the quarterfinals of the Shoreline Conference Tournament.
In the regular season, the Huskies went 3-0 when they scored more than two goals in a game.
Morgan’s victories this season came against Coginchaug (twice), Haddam-Killingworth (twice), North Branford, Portland, Hale-Ray, and Westbrook.