WOODBURY— When Nonnewaug girls soccer ran out onto the turf after their pre game ritual, Aug. 28, the late summer heat was glaring down. This didn’t stop them from earning a 1-0 win against Holy Cross.
Despite two Nonnewaug varsity starters being injured, seniors Karli Brandt and Ella Quinn, the pre season scrimmage was an early success. Quinn shares her thoughts from the sideline.
“Obviously it was really hard having to watch my team play without me,” Quinn said. “I was just really, really wanting to make it out there. But I think that we held our own. I think we did pretty good. We had a lot of opportunities.”
One of those opportunities was a play, made by junior Audrey Doran and seniors Hailey Goldman and Maia Colavito, that led to Nonnewaug scoring.
“Coach Brutting always tells us to get in front of the goalie,” Goldman explains, “so right before Maia’s kick, I went to Audrey and said ‘I don’t care about the ball. We’re running straight at the goalie. You’re not gonna foul her, but you’re just running straight at her.’ And that’s exactly what we did. Audrey was right on her, and the ball just rolled right in. We finally got up.”
Along with this set piece goal, girls soccer coach Adam Brutting shares some of his other game highlights, both of which led to his player of the game decisions.
“Late in the game, Holy Cross got to push forward and got a through ball,” Brutting said. “Our keeper came out, they attacked it, the ball bounced around a little bit, and their striker stepped through after the keeper deflected it. Bryce Gilbert stepped up and said there’s no chance that I’m going to let you put this in the back of the net. So she beat the girl to it and cleared it out.”
Brutting noted that the speed of Holy Cross created a challenge for the Chiefs.
“This goes back to Maia, who basically worked the Holy Cross striker, who is extremely fast, and smart, and has a good handle on the ball,” Brutting said. “Maia just worked, especially like in the game when there was a 50-50 ball and Maia shielded her off, extremely strong, and said we’re not going to let you tie the game.”
With Gilbert and Colavito getting player of the game, and Nonnewaug coming away with their first win, Goldman has high hopes for the rest of the season.
“I feel like the little moments matter in every single game,” Goldman said. “And this game we really made them count. We have some work to do, but I’m proud of everyone today and I’m excited to see how far we can go.”
