G3S Shuts Out Lawrence Academy, 1-0

Because Lawrence Academy’s field was too wet, Groton’s Girls’ Thirds Soccer team played an away game at home on Monday afternoon and came out on top, 1-0.

 

Our starting forward line of Alex Canellakis, Lauren Clark and Tai Campbell was aggressive from the opening whistle, teaming nicely with midfielders Annie O’Leary, Julia Trowbridge and Sarah Beran in passing the ball well and putting pressure on the LA goalkeeper. A couple of our early shots went wide and the keeper saved several others, so the game remained scoreless for much of the first half. When LA advanced beyond midfield, our defensive line of Juliya Makhanov, Alesandra Powell, Leah Canellakis and Addison Hyde turned them away and sent the ball back upfield. Angela Wei also made some nice plays on defense before being sidelined with an ankle injury.

 

Midway through the half, Zenande Mdludlu (playing her first game ever) and Fio Viacava went in up front and worked with Bea Agbi, Emily Li and Letitia Caspersen at midfield to continue our offensive efforts. With several of these girls having less experience than most of our other players, it was impressive to watch them passing the ball well and aggressively challenging their opponents. Groton finally broke through with three minutes left in the half when Maya Varkey knocked home a cross from Calen Cagney on the right, via Riya Varkey.

 

Although that goal gave us momentum going into the second half, LA almost took advantage of a rare lapse to get off a hard low shot from the 18-yard line. Goalkeeper Anna Pimentel made a terrific save, diving left to deflect the ball and then scrambling to get the rebound before the shooter could reach it. Reenergized by that save, Groton seized control of the game after that, keeping the ball deep in LA’s end for long stretches of time. LA’s goalie made a series of very good saves to keep us from adding to our lead, and a couple of other shots went just wide or high.

 

Players of the Game were Alex Canellakis and Sarah Beran, both of whom displayed tremendous effort and hustle throughout the second half, keeping the ball deep in our offensive end and continually pressuring LA’s defense. If not for some great plays by the LA keeper, Alex and Sarah could have finished with a couple of goals apiece.

 

Thank you to the family members and other fans who came out to support the team on a damp and chilly afternoon. We appreciated your support.