Sports

Coginchaug Girls' Soccer: Shoreline Conference Champs!!

Coach Megan Kavanaugh was ecstatic to bring home Coginchaug's first-ever soccer banner to the Blue Devils' gym.

The bleachers were packed and the ropes were lined at the Shoreline Conference girls’ soccer finals at Cromwell High School on Nov. 7 to watch top-seeded Coginchaug take on No. 3 seed North Branford. 

As the clock ticked off the final seconds with the scoreboard lit up with a 2-0 Coginchaug victory, the Blue Devils' bench counted down to their first-ever Shoreline Conference title. With 0:00 on the clock, the team stormed the field and the crowd went wild.

The Blue Devils came out strong to start the game, immediately pressuring North Branford’s defense. Victoria Buonanni and Kimberly Romanoff let a couple shots loose that North Branford sophomore goalkeeper Katelyn Pantera easily handled.

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Heading to the other end of the field, Vicky Colello and Emmy Dulak showed off a pretty give and go, but Colello’s shot went just wide of Coginchaug goalkeeper Kara Levine.

With 19:49 to play in the half, Coginchaug earned a penalty kick. Buonanni toed the line and fired a shot that Pantera calmly collected as the North Branford bench erupted in cheers.

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Two minutes later, it was the Blue Devils celebrating. Buonanni lofted a pass across the box where Romanoff settled the ball and shot it into the far corner of the net to break the scoreless deadlock.

The remainder of the first half was a battle around midfield with North Branford fighting for the equalizer and Coginchaug looking to pad its lead. The Blue Devils saw Jessica Solomon, Samantha Mancinelli, Lauren Trombetta, Kasi Whitaker and Kayla Votto all come up with big defensive stops.

It was more of the same to open the second half with both teams creating solid opportunities. The T-Birds threatened 10 minutes in with a flurry of activity in front of the Blue Devils’ net. Colello, Alecia Canfield and Sarah McDonald were in the center with all getting a foot–or a head–on the ball, but Coginchaug’s Kara Levine made the save.

With about 20 minutes to play, both teams traded corner kicks with both keepers again coming up big. Coginchaug continued to pressure and with 11:59 to play, it paid off when Jessica Solomon fed Esposito around midfield. Esposito beat her defender and charged toward Pantera. She sent a low shot that sent Pantera to the ground just out of her reach for a 2-0 lead. (see video)

North Branford tried to power through to stay in the game, while Coginchaug played slow and deliberate to run down the clock and claim the title.

Coach Megan Kavanaugh was happy that her team was able to reach its goal of winning the Shoreline Conference crown.

"We have zero Coginchaug soccer banners in our gym and we decided we wanted to put one up there," said Kavanaugh. "Our motto for the year was 'Make a statement' and that's our statement in our gym."


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