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10/01/2017 12:00 AMThe Valley Regional girls’ soccer team is piecing together a strong season this fall, having lost just once in its first seven games of the year. Head Coach Lloyd Warren’s squad has played stellar defense so far and continues to work on its offense. Last week, Valley saw a glimpse of what its offense can offer when the Warriors netted a 5-0 home victory over Westbrook on Sept. 26. Two days later, Valley lost a 1-0 home contest against East Hampton, but the team still sports a solid record of 2-1-4 on the season.
In last week’s win versus Westbrook, the Warriors got the scoring started early when junior Alexis Finnerty put one in the back of the net. Typically, Finnerty would be playing the goalkeeper’s position because she excels back there, but Coach Warren knows that he can also use Finnerty’s offensive skills on the field.
“I’ve had her out of goalkeeper for a couple of games because we can use her ability to score,” said Coach Warren. “She might return there because we have a big game [on Thursday, Oct. 5] against North Branford, and we’ll need her.”
Following Finnerty’s goal, sophomore Ava Duval put one past the Westbrook keeper on a penalty kick to make it 2-0. Shortly before intermission, Valley increased its lead to 3-0 on junior Allie Ruel’s first goal of the season. Early in the second half, Duval grabbed her second goal, and, just a little later, so did Ruel. Coach Warren liked that the Warriors’ offense let loose behind the team’s leading scorer, Duval.
“She’s an out-and-out scorer. She plays club soccer competitively,” said Warren. “She’s a good finisher and she creates chances for herself really well. She’s been great at bringing others into the game with scoring opportunities, as well.”
Once again, Valley’s defensive backfield featuring captains Bonnie Caulfield and Sydney Suedmeier, along with fellow senior Jeni Caulfield, held their ground in the Westbrook victory, as did Kelli Schaefer in goal. Coach Warren feels pleased that he can depend on Schaefer when he brings Finnerty out of the net to go on the attack.
“She had a strong performance and was there when we needed,” said Warren of Schaefer “More than anything, she communicates very well with the defense.”
Later in the week, Valley took a 1-0 loss to East Hampton when the Bellringers scored the game’s lone goal with 10 seconds remaining. Coach Warren felt the Warriors played some of their best soccer of the year in this game; they just couldn’t finish on their offensive chances.
“Early in the first half, we were creating so many chances and attacking really well. I would say it was our strongest performance, which adds to the frustration. We moved the ball well, and we hit the crossbar,” Warren said. “It’s all about composure. The girls have to be more calm when they get up to the keeper and just pass the ball in. More than anything, that game really taught the girls just how cruel the game of soccer is. If we tied, we were already frustrated because we should have won. It comes with the territory in soccer. Things can change in an instant.”
Coach Warren feels that his team will develop that composure as the season goes on. Valley has a relatively young unit on the attack, and Warren believes that if they keep getting the ball in front of the net, they’ll be able to cash in on more of their offensive opportunities. Warren also said that the Warriors’ young attackers need to get a little scoring support from their friends.
“The biggest thing for me is that I’m asking a lot from our younger forward players,” said Warren. “We need to support them a little bit more. If we can take some of the pressure off them, we can have some better results. We’re relying on them a lot.”
Still, the Warriors only have one loss this year, and the 3-5-2 formation that they began featuring this season is paying dividends on both ends of the field.
“It’s something we’ve been working on over the summer and coming into the high school season. My preferred formation is a 4-3-3. It covers more of the field and makes everyone’s role a little easier, but this makes more sense with our personnel, and to have a little bit of freedom to change the way we can play with those players,” said Warren. “We made the 3-5-2 become a defensive system to stop teams like Cromwell getting behind us, but against a lot of other teams, it has been a more offensive formation for us. We can adjust to an attacking team.”
Coach Warren knows that having a strong defensive trio is important in order to run that formation, but he also said that junior midfielder Lauren Salbinski is proving a key component in Valley’s successful implementation of its new look.
“She is a midfield warrior. She breaks the play down, she restarts attacks. She’s an awesome kid, and the others look up to her,” said Warren on Salbinksi. “Without her, I wouldn’t be able to play three at the back. She allows us to do a lot of things out there.”
As for the rest of the season, Coach Warren wants the Warriors to always focus on taking care of business in the next game on the schedule and not worry about anything beyond that.
“First and foremost, it’s game by game, never looking further ahead than that game in front of us,” said Warren. “We talk about each opponent and change our system to accommodate beating that team. There are no lofty goals. There are no Shorelines, no states. There’s just the next game.”
From the Sidelines
Lloyd Warren is in his second season as head coach of the Valley Regional girls’ soccer team.
Warren’s coach staff features Joshua Bessette and Allyson Pitney.
The Warriors’ wins this season have come against Fitch (3-2) and Westbrook (5-0). They also played to draws against Cromwell (0-0), Haddam-Killingworth (0-0), Old Saybrook (0-0), and Morgan (2-2).