Girls soccer: Warriors come up short against Trumbull, 3-0

The Wilton High girls soccer team took the field in the second part of Saturday’s doubleheader at home, and didn’t fare any better than the boys team had earlier in the day in its 4-0 loss to Stamford. The girls team was also shut out — by the Trumbull Eagles, 3-0 — in the nightcap at Kristine Lilly Soccer Field. After starting the season 0-4-2, the Eagles, coached by Daniel Uhrlass, have gone 5-1 over its last six games, only losing to Westhill. The Eagles came into the game looking to stay hot and improve their FCIAC and state playoff chances. Uhrlass stated after the game that his team played well, but was the benefactor of some lucky breaks. The breaks he was referring too were that three Warrior shot attempts hit the crossbar, all on quality looks. “They put their chances away and we didn’t, “said senior co-captain Paige Gladstein. “We played with confidence and I’m sure hitting the crossbar several times frustrated those who took the shots, but the team stayed upbeat thinking a goal would be coming soon. We clearly didn’t expect to lose 3-0.” The Warriors had numerous good chances to put the ball in the net, as compared to the Eagles, but couldn’t finish on those attempts. Wilton controlled the play most of the game with well-organized rushes up the field. Almost every time sophomore Lindsay Groves got the ball on the wing she was able to get a step on her defender and turn the corner. But the angle was bad, she had no one waiting at the far post, or Trumbull’s goalie, Avery Rice, was in position for the save. The game was scoreless until the 31st minute of play. Rebecca Crosley put the visitors on the board, as the Warriors failed to clear the ball away from the goal. The Warriors ended the first half with a couple of scoring chances to tie the game but couldn’t get the ball over the goal line. With 2:30 remaining in the half, freshman Sophia Sudano got around her defender and sent a high shot toward the far corner, only to have it ring off the crossbar. The ball stayed in play and a minute later Sudano took a shot at a tough angle and the shot went wide of the net. In second-half action, the Warriors hit the crossbar squarely two more times, both coming off shots from midfielder Andrea Benalcazar. The first crossbar hit came 10 minutes into the second half and the second eight minutes later. The second crossbar save dropped straight down just outside the goal line and was cleared off the line by the Eagles. “They battled and worked hard for the win and capitalized on our mistakes,” said Wilton head coach Renato Topalli. “I feel we played just as hard as they did, it’s that we didn’t finish our chances. With the chances we had we should have been up 2-0 in the first 10 minutes of the game. We let them hang around and they finished their chances.” He continued, “The players on this team don’t want to lose and our past losses have motivated them to come out the next game and play harder. I hope the same will be turn about this loss. You want to be at your best with the regular season coming to a close”. The contest was either team’s for the taking, as the score remained 1-0 in favor of Trumbull. But with less than seven minutes left in the game, the Eagles tallied two more times for the 3-0 shutout win. With 6:28 to play, Skylar Jorge upped the Eagles lead to 2-0 and Julia Jager closed out the scoring with a goal with 5:08 to play. On the final goal, Wilton goalie Taylor Floyd came out of the net to stop the rush, but Jager was able to beat her to the ball and had a wide-open net for the score. With the loss the Warriors record stands at 8-3-1, with four games left in the regular season.

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