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10/22/2017 12:00 AMThe Morgan girls’ soccer squad started the 2017 season aiming to make the Shoreline Conference and the Class S State tournaments in its first year with longtime assistant Steve Sullivan as head coach. As the regular season winds down, the Huskies are locks to compete in both tournaments and have surpassed last year’s total of eight wins with their record of 11-2-2. The credit goes to a very quick and versatile group of athletes who are competing hard every day.
The Huskies played three Shoreline Conference foes at home last week and won two matchups while tying the other. On Oct. 16, Morgan hosted East Hampton at the Indian River Complex and held off the Bellringers for a 2-0 victory. The scoring started late with an unassisted goal from Kylee Clifton in the 53rd minute. The Huskies sealed the win in the 79th minute on Alyssa LeMay’s goal on an assist from Courtney Viglione.
Coach Sullivan lauded the maturity that his team is showing on the field this season. As has been the case with most repeat opponents, East Hampton played a different game against Morgan than in the two teams’ first meeting of the year, but the Huskies responded to sweep the season series.
“I saw a lot of maturity. We played them our very first game of the season and we beat them 3-1. They only scored on a PK,” said Sullivan. “The other night when they came to our place, it was a far more physical game. They were trying to out-muscle us and take us out of our game...We stood up to them pretty well with our physicality. Our kids showed a lot of maturity. They’ve grown so much over the season.”
Three days later, Portland was in town for Morgan’s Senior Night as the Huskies honored captains Robyn Vuilleumier and Brianna Navarra, as well as the team’s other seniors, who are Halle DiCrosta, Allison Gardner, Erin LeViness, Mikayla Mancini, and Viglione. Junior captain Erin Lindsay played a huge role in organizing the festivities, along with fellow juniors Gianna Abbatello, Chloe Bosquet, Clifton, Rebecca Cockley, Madison Emmi, Rachel Flanagan, Ella Franzoni, LeMay, Isabella Ranaudo, Grace Roman, and Joelle Vuilleumier.
For the second time this season, Morgan defeated the Highlanders. The game’s only goal was knocked in by Viglione off a helper from Navarra in minute No. 60. Coach Sullivan saw Portland play conservatively by keeping its defenders back.
“They parked the bus on us, as we say. They dropped in defensively, and it looked like they were playing for the tie,” said Sullivan. “It was tough for us to break through. It took us until the 60th minute to do it.”
To close out the week on Oct. 21, the Huskies hosted Cromwell and the game finished in a 1-1 tie. Morgan and the Panthers are jockeying for position in the Shoreline Conference Tournament, and so it was a hard-fought contest. Morgan scored the first goal in the 44th minute when LeMay put one in the net off an assist from Viglione. Cromwell notched the tying goal with only 1:30 left in the game.
Throughout the week, Coach Sullivan saw a team that was steadily improving. He gives great praise to his captains for taking a lot of pressure off him in his first year at the helm.
“Each of the captains have just been phenomenal. I can’t say enough about them and the workload they took off my shoulders,” Sullivan said. “Very often, they are a couple steps ahead of me on things that need to get done.”
Another big reason for Morgan’s success is the play of their junior goalkeeper Rebecca Cockley, who has been a mainstay in net this season.
“She’s played every minute of the varsity games this year,” said Sullivan. “She does what a goalkeeper is supposed to do. She organizes from behind. She’s always talking and telling defenders where opposing players are. She’s always saying the right thing.”
As the Huskies get ready for the playoffs, Sullivan considers himself lucky to coach such a strong team that’s full of quality kids.
“I couldn’t ask for a better situation. It’s amazing to me to hear from teachers and parents of opposing teams. They’ll always mention how nice these kids are,” Sullivan said. “I’ve tried to make it a fun situation for them. They understand you can have fun and work hard at the same time.”