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12/03/2017 11:00 PMThe Morgan girls’ soccer squad turned in a strong showing in the 2017 season by posting a record of 15-4-2, which marked a six-win improvement from the previous campaign. The Huskies advanced to the Shoreline Conference Tournament semifinals and the Class M State Tournament quarterfinals in their first year with Head Coach Steve Sullivan and have a strong core of players to build with for future seasons.
Coach Sullivan felt that Morgan performed admirably this fall, especially considering his team’s difficult schedule. Sullivan made sure to include non-conference opponents who would pose a challenge to the Huskies to give them that extra edge.
“I kept preaching to the girls all year long that we won’t go out and play weaker teams to pad stats and qualify for Shorelines and states,” said Coach Sullivan, who completed his 13th year with the program. “I scheduled three games against teams that we had losses against within the last couple of years like East Lyme, Sheehan, and Bethel...These are the types of team that you have to play to get prepared for states.”
Sullivan’s strategy paid off as the Huskies made a nice run in states by winning their first two games. In the first round, Morgan defeated New Fairfield 2-0. The Huskies then avenged their loss to North Branford in the Shoreline semis by defeating the Thunderbirds 2-1 (3-1 on PKs) in the second round before losing to Lewis Mills in the quarterfinals.
“We beat North Branford less than a week after losing to them in the [Shoreline Tournament]. We wound up going over there to beat them 2-1 on penalty kicks,” Sullivan said. “It was very exciting. Channel 8 news was there, and there was a segment for the kids on TV. It was very exciting.”
One of the biggest reasons behind the Huskies’ success was the play of senior Courtney Viglione, who led the team with 17 goals and also supplied seven assists. Viglione earned All-Shoreline Conference First Team and All-State honors, and she was also selected to play in the Senior Bowl. Coach Sullivan said that Viglione is a handful for any opponent that stands in her path.
“She’s just an overall great athlete. She’s had a lot of accolades in two events for track. She’s just got endless amount of energy,” said Sullivan. “Because of her speed, she can create more opportunities and force mistakes. She creates chances for her teammates. She doesn’t require a lot of rest. We have a lot of capable strikers. In order to get them into the game, I would move her to midfield instead of taking her out.”
The second-leading scorer for the Huskies was Alyssa Lemay with 11 goals and 11 assists on the year. Coach Sullivan said that Lemay and Viglione overwhelmed their opposing defenders with their speed and their ability to share the ball.
“It’s a blessing as a coach to have one kid with great speed...To have Alyssa and Courtney out there at the same time, it’s difficult to defend against,” Sullivan said. “You may stop one, but you won’t stop both. They recognize that, and they share the ball. They work well together. I’ve seen each of them give up easy goal-scoring opportunities to give a tap-in to another player.”
That type of unselfishness was a theme for the Huskies this season. Coach Sullivan felt proud that a lot of their success stemmed from cohesive team play on offense.
“We scored 52 goals this year, and we had assists on 38 of them. That’s one of the stats I’m most pleased about,” he said. “It shows that the team is playing together and no one is afraid of sharing the ball.”
On the other side of the pitch, Morgan received lock-down defense from several players, including senior captain Brianna Navarra, junior captain Erin Lindsay, and sophomore Taylor Wyatt. The Huskies had to deal with some injuries in the back field, but as the season went on, everything fell into place nicely. Lindsay made the All-Shoreline Conference Second Team and was also named the Huskies’ Most Valuable Player this year.
“We had a very strong defense. Two of the four kids I have back on defense are sophomores, one junior, and one senior,” said Sullivan, whose other senior captain was Robyn Vuillieumier. “We started off a little bit thin defensively because of injuries. I had to find who was going to be able to handle the job.”
The Huskies’ strong defense was further bolstered by the play of junior goalkeeper Rebecca Cockley, who finished the season with 97 saves and six shutouts. Cockley had to sit out the last few games, but she still turned in a solid showing in net this fall.
“She’s an excellent goalkeeper and, up until the injury, she solidified our defense. At that point, she had only given up 20 goals throughout the season,” said Coach Sullivan. “She had six shutouts and 97 saves on the season. She would have cracked 100 if she didn’t get injured. Next year, she’ll be in goal.”
Sullivan is going to miss the seniors who are moving on from this year’s team. He feels they’re a special group of athletes who took the initiative with the club’s younger players.
“We had quite a few kids who were leaders. This group of kids looked after the younger kids. You could see many of them took an interest in them and mentored them a bit,” said Sullivan. “Even though you have captains who do a lot of legwork, it’s necessary to have kids who want to be leaders.”
As for the future of his team, Coach Sullivan feels confident that he has a solid group of returning athletes who will be ready to step up to fill the voids next year.
“I’m excited about the talent that we have coming in and the kids that we already have at the varsity and JV. There are a lot of kids that could step into a lot of minutes next year,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, we have to find someone fill in for Courtney’s 17 goals, but I think there are a few kids who are willing to step up to that challenge.”
From the Sidelines
The Morgan girls’ soccer team’s 2017 varsity roster consisted of senior captains Brianna Navarra and Robyn Vuillieumier; seniors Hallie DiCrosta, Allison Gardner, Erin LeViness, Mikayla Mancini, and Courtney Viglione; junior captain Erin Lindsay; juniors Gianna Abbatello, Chloe Bousquet, Kylie Clifton, Rebecca Cockley, Madison Emmi, Rachel Flanagan, Ella Franzoni, Alyssa Lemay, Isabella Ranaudo, Grace Roman, and Joelle Vuillieumier; sophomores Maura Kelly, Natalie Novarro, Alyssa Smith, Madeline Stopkowski, Olivia Swan, and Taylor Wyatt; and freshman Carley Schmidt.
Head Coach Steve Sullivan was assisted by Jessica Choronzy and Bill Lindsay, and he thanks them for their input in terms of tactical changes during the course of games throughout the season.
The Huskies notched regular-season wins against East Hampton (3-1 and 2-0), Portland (3-1 and 1-0), Cromwell (3-0), Haddam-Killingworth (5-0), Sheehan (3-2), East Lyme (3-1), Old Saybrook (4-1), Coginchaug (3-0), Westbrook (8-2), and Bethel (2-1). Morgan also lost to Old Lyme (2-0) and North Branford (2-1) and earned ties against Valley Regional (2-2) and Cromwell (1-1).
In the Shoreline Conference Tournament, Morgan defeated Portland 4-0 in the quarterfinals and then lost to eventual champion North Branford by 4-1 a score in the semifinals.
In the Class M State Tournament, Morgan defeated No. 24 seed New Fairfield 2-0 in the first round. In the second round, the Huskies defeated No. 8 seed North Branford 2-1 (3-1 on penalty kicks). Morgan then lost to No. 1 seed Lewis Mills 3-0 in the quarterfinals.