This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
10/21/2017 12:00 AMThe Guilford girls’ soccer team snapped a streak in which it went six games without a win by earning two victories and a tie last week, while clinching a division title along the way.
The Indians notched a 3-1 win versus Branford on Oct. 16, played to a 0-0 tie with Cheshire on Oct. 18, and then claimed the SCC Hammonasset Division crown behind a 1-0 triumph over Mercy on Oct. 20. Guilford, which will play in both the SCC and Class L State tournaments, owns an overall record of 7-3-5 and finished 5-0-3 in the Hammonasset Division.
“It feels good to now have gotten that goal of making states. We’ve been playing pretty well, but we just hadn’t been scoring,” said Head Coach Scott McMahon. “We’ve outshot our competition, but it was good to get some form of a result with the ties, and it was also good to get rewarded for them with states.”
Guilford received goals from senior co-captain midfielder Chloe Shaw, sophomore defender Madison Gambardella, and junior forward Tatum Meder in last week’s 3-1 win against Branford. The Indians’ assists came from junior midfielder Abbey Vilaseca, senior forward Caroline Basil, and Shaw.
Guilford took 14 shots on goal and held Branford to just four in the victory. Coach McMahon attributes his club’s stellar defensive play to the fact his athletes are jelling on the field. The Indians have gone six games in a row without allowing more than one goal in a contest.
“Overall, we’ve had solid play by all of our defenders. They are still learning to coordinate together,” said McMahon. “The goals that we have given up are usually because of defensive lapse, but we’ve learned from them...[Senior co-captain] Taylor Shutak is our central defender and cleans up a lot back there. [Junior] Meghan Landon is coming into her own as our goalkeeper. We have complete players playing outside defense, and we have good 1-on-1 defenders.”
Guilford has played to five ties this year, and Coach McMahon feels that all the experience the Indians are getting in tight games will serve them well in the postseason, when everything is on the line and a winner must be decided.
“We’ve sort of had this goal to allow [one goal or less] each game. The ties in those last few games, we really dominated with shots on goal, so we walked away disappointed, but not hanging our heads,” said McMahon. “It all comes down to playing well come tournament time. Sometimes you don’t get easy payoffs and have to keep working hard. The ties have kept us hungry to turn them into wins.”
From the Sidelines
The leading point scorers on the Guilford girls’ soccer squad this year are Tatum Meder (14 points; 5 goals, 4 assists), Chloe Shaw (13 points; 4 goals, 5 helpers), Gabi Garcia-Perez (9 points; 3 goals, 3 assists), and Sophia Gabriel (8 points; 4 goals).
In goal, Meghan Landon has posted five shutouts in 14 games for the Indians, while Claire Mackenzie also played one game in net.
The SCC Tournament opens up on Saturday, Oct. 28 with quarterfinal round action. The semifinals take place on Monday, Oct. 30. The championship game will be held on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 5:30 p.m. at West Haven High School.