Girls' III Soccer Battles, Bests and Neutralizes BB&N, 3-1

The Girls’ Thirds Soccer team topped BB&N 3-1 on Friday afternoon in a game that started 45 minutes late because Head of the Charles traffic around Cambridge delayed our opponents’ arrival.

 

Befitting a Parents Weekend contest, this game was a family affair, as all four goals were scored by the two pairs of sisters on our team. Granted, one of the goals went into our own net, but it still counts as a goal in the scorebook.

 

Defender Leah Canellakis opened the scoring six minutes into the game. Leah successfully battled her BB&N opponent for the ball in front of our net, but unfortunately her attempt at clearing it ended up in the goal. However, her twin sister Alex Canellakis evened the score just four minutes later. Maya Varkey carried the ball down the right side and then cut in along the endline towards the BB&N goal. When the defender came out, Maya passed the ball across the goalmouth to Alex, who knocked it in at the left post.

 

Riya Varkey put us in front 11 minutes into the second half. Sarah Beran’s pass found Maya Varkey on the right, and Maya centered it to her sister around the 12 yard line. Riya was off balance and fell as she kicked the ball, but her slow roller got through traffic and nestled just inside the right post. Maya finished the scoring a few minutes later from the right side on the 18, taking a pass from Calen Cagney and lofting a shot that the goalie tipped but could not redirect.

 

Players of the Game were Alesandra Powell and Calen Cagney. Because of another girl’s injury, Alesandra and Calen were called upon to play in positions where they’d rather not be, but they put the good of the team above their personal preferences. With goalkeeper Anna Pimentel out after a collision in Wednesday’s game, Alesandra switched from midfield to goal and was solid for us. But Alesandra’s move left us weak at midfield, so Calen shifted back from forward to mid and gave us a very strong presence, winning a lot of loose balls and helping us retain the ball in our offensive end of the field. Without these two girls in these positions, today’s result could have been very different. Honorable mention to Maya Varkey for her role in all three of our goals, and to Fio Viacava and Angela Wei for their relentless energy and effectiveness on the field today.

 

Thank you to the many parents and family members who supported the team this afternoon. The Girls’ Thirds team will be in action again next Friday in a home game against Applewild.