CRHS Lady Devils Cruise To Opening Day Victory

When you get 7 goals from 6 different players; when you get one goal from a defender, 3 from midfield and 3 up top; when you limit your opponent to 2 shots on goal and when you maintain 85% of possession it’s safe to say it was a team effort.  It’s also safe to say one team dominated the match.  That’s exactly what the Coginchaug Girls Soccer team did against North Branford in the season opener on their home turf Tuesday afternoon.

Sophomore Midfielder Amy Arcari scored the only goal that Coginchaug would need less than 5 minutes into the contest when she one-timed a cross from Senior Midfielder Alison Luther.  Shortly after, Sophomore Defender Shaun Whitaker makes another of her patented pick-pocket steals and puts the ball perfectly into space for Arcari, this time it’s her feed to Senior Co-Captain Victoria Buonanni that finds the back of the net after easily shaking off 2 defenders.   Senior Mid Kim Romanoff closed out the first half scoring with a breakaway that had ‘goal’ written all over it.  The keeper was able to make the initial save but could not handle the power of the shot.  Romanoff followed her own strike and finished it off with ease.

If North Branford thought they had a chance at a comeback, Buonanni made sure they knew which team was in charge.  She drilled a shot into the net less than 5 minutes into the second half.  Her counterpart, Senior Co-Captain Defender Kasi Whitaker was not to be left out of the action and added one of her own.   

Outstanding Freshman Olivia Preneta’s pre-season hard work earned her a well-deserved opening day start.  She repaid her coach and her teammates with smart, aggressive play all afternoon.   She capped off her memorable day with a put-back goal of her own.  The quiet, but dangerous Sophomore Center Midfielder Jess Drop capped of the day with her first goal of the season.  Surely, there will be more to come from this pair.

Goals usually rule the day in soccer, but the real story in this match was the possession.  The Lady Devil’s looked masterful with their precision passing and footskills.  They barely ever played long ball, instead used short, quick, accurate passes to formulate a systematic attack that North Branford had no answer for.

NEXT MATCH :  Thursday, September 12th at CRHS (Lower Field) vs Westbrook

OTHER MATCHES :  CRHS BOYS, Wednesday, September 11th at CRHS Turf field vs North Branford; Friday, September 13th at CRHS vs Westbrook

For complete schedules:  www.ciacsports.com

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