Health & Fitness
CRHS Girls Soccer Remain Unbeaten; Boys Fall to Old Lyme
Updates and Highlights from the last 3 games. Boys travel to face unbeaten Old Saybrook Friday afternoon.
The CRHS Girls soccer team notched close wins against Shoreline Conference foes Old Lyme and Old Saybrook to keep their unbeaten season intact.
The girls jumped out to an early lead against Old Lyme at home on Monday afternoon. Senior Alison Luther fired a free kick directly on net from 30 yards with pinpoint accuracy for the game's first score. Shortly after, Senior Morgan Kuehnle took a shot from almost the exact same spot. Her strike ricocheted off the crossbar and down into goal then out. It should have accounted for a 2-0 CRHS lead, but it was not whistled as a goal. The lead was 1-nil at the half.
Old Lyme fought back and placed a loose ball inside the far post to tie the match. CRHS fought hard through the rest of the game, but could not score before time expired. They carried the momentum in overtime and needed only 1 minute and 49 seconds to find Senior Co-Captain Victoria Buonanni through the defense and past the keeper for the game winning goal.
Sophomore Larissa Cade's defensive effort earned her "Player of the Game" honors from Coach Kavanaugh. "Larissa was a dominant force in the back. Her ability to win the ball and distribute was incredible to watch. She kept her composure in an integral position despite the fact that she is playing a position that is new to her."
The girls loaded a bus and headed south on a beautiful afternoon to take on the Rams of Old Saybrook on Thursday. The team was able to keep the excitement of the fair off their minds long enough to pull out their 6th win of the year.
Old Saybrook drew first blood off a corner kick in the first half. The rams redirected the ball on net and Goal Keeper Kara Mather made the initial save. She pushed the ball up in an attempt to clear it but it took an unlucky bounce off the crossbar and onto the head of a Rams attacker and into the goal.
CRHS kept their composure and responded quickly with two similar plays. Ali Luther sent a cross from the right aimed for Kim Romanoff. The Old Saybrook defender attempted to clear the ball, but instead redirected into the net. Just a few minutes later Buonanni sent a cross from the same side and found Romanoff for the easy one-timer past the diving keeper. The halftime score was 2-1 in favor of the Blue Devil's.
The second half was a back and forth battle. Both teams played solid defense, and both put plenty of pressure up top. The Rams turned up the heat with 10 minutes to go when they pulled their highly skilled keeper out of the goal and inserted her as a striker. She created several opportunities, but none resulting in a goal. The final score remained 2-1.
Coach Kavanaugh once again credited a defender as the "Player of the Game" for solidifying the win. Thursday it was Senior Co-Captain Kasi Whitaker, "Kasi anchored the Blue Devils in the back when needed the most. Her composure on the ball and ability to win balls was evident on Thursday afternoon. Kasi was able to lead the backfield in a big game at Old Saybrook both vocally and by example. She knew that her team needed her to win the ball (especially in the air) and was willing to head punts from the OS GK even though they were 'three stories in the air'."
The CRHS boys team hosted Old Lyme on Tuesday at home. The boys held possession, and maintained an effective passing game, but could not convert it into a scoring threat. Old Lyme scored twice in the final 5 minutes of the first half. They added 3 more in the second.
The game was undoubtedly a step backwards from the 3 games last week, but Coach Cap is still looking at the positives. Even better than Friday’s win at Portland was the "character the team showed after being down from the early goal." He's looking to rebound against a very tough Old Saybrook squad. "Hopefully we can take what we did well against Old Lyme and build on that during this week’s training and get a good result on Friday", he added. Coach sees a couple players on the bench that can step up at the forward position now that they'll be getting more playing time.
