4 First-Half Goals Hurt New Canaan Girls Soccer in 6-2 Loss vs. Undefeated St. Joe’s

 

The injury bug has taken a sizable bite out of the New Canaan girls soccer squad in 2015. After starting the year 4-0 and relatively injury free, the girls entered Thursday’s showdown against the undefeated Cadets of St. Joe’s having lost six of their previous seven games with eight players missing some amount of game time during that stretch— including senior starters Ellie Aliapoulios (wrist) and Schuyler O’Mahony (torn MCL), who are not expected to return to play. And while the recent return of a couple starters from injury for the Rams (5-7), junior forward Madison Starr and senior forward and co-captain Sami Stewart, gave them some well-desired firepower to have a chance to upset the Cadets (12-0) for the second time in two seasons after last year’s FCIAC tournament win — St. Joe’s put up four goals in a 10:07 span in the middle portion of the first half and never looked back on their way to a 6-2 victory.

Four-Goal First Half Sparks Undefeated New Canaan Girls Soccer to Win Over Trinity Catholic

Coming off a tightly contested rivalry game that resulted in a 1-0 Rams victory over Darien on Friday, New Canaan girls soccer took to Conner Field again on Monday afternoon poised to not have any letdowns against the Crusaders of Trinity Catholic. They certainly did not let down. The team netted four first half goals from four different individuals and never looked back on their way to a 6-0 victory, extending its season-beginning win streak to four as well as its shutout streak. “We created a lot of good chances today,” head coach Kirk Bamford told NewCanaanite.com. “Credit to Trinity’s goalie (Jazmune Maolia) who had some special saves. All in all, I can’t really grumble.

Dial & Defense Propel New Canaan Girls Soccer to 1-0 Victory Over Rival Darien

No matter what time of the year it is, New Canaan vs. Darien is always a matchup that both the teams and fans look forward to. In girls soccer the meeting between the two rivals came in just the third game of each team’s 2015 season with both entering at 2-0 heading into Friday’s showdown at Conner Field. And with a goal from sophomore forward Braeden Dial in the 14th minute of the game, the Rams took the early 1-0 lead and held on to extend the team’s winning streak to begin the season to three. “It’s always a huge, huge game for us,” head coach Kirk Bamford told NewCanaanite.com. “It’s a rival and obviously the girls have grown up playing against them [Darien] in all sports, including soccer, throughout the years.

New Canaan Girls Soccer Preview: Veteran ‘NC Feet’ Squad Ready to Strike

For New Canaan High School varsity girls soccer head coach Kirk Bamford, entering his seventh season at the team’s helm, two major strengths of the 2015 squad are experience and leadership. The team has 17 returning players, “all of whom are capable of contributing,” Bamford told NewCanaanite.com. “We have our four captains who are instrumental to the team, along with the other seniors, 10 of whom [in total] are back from last year. It’s a great group, very experienced with a great attitude.” Those four senior captains are midfielder Sami Stewart, defenders Mia Carroll and Caroline Gordon, and goalkeeper Katie Donovan—a quartet with more than a decade of experience playing together, which bodes well for the 2015 Rams squad.

NewCanaanite.com Athletes of the Week: Courtney Overacker and Chase Williams

The NewCanaanite.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, Connecticut Sandwich Co., Joe’s Pizza and Mackenzie’s. Congratulations to Courtney Overacker and Chase Williams for being named NewCanaanite.com Athletes of the Week. The New Canaan girls varsity soccer team’s 8-5-3 record in 2014 was good enough to qualify for the Class L state playoffs, thanks in large part to the play of co-captain Courtney Overacker. The senior forward has had a solid performance on the pitch this year, notching 6 goals and 5 assists on the season. Overacker’s penchant for coming up big was especially noticeable down the stretch, scoring a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win over Danbury last Thursday and following it up with another goal and assist in a 7-0 win over Bridgeport Central on Saturday.