St. Paul girls soccer was the No. 5 seed when it entered the NVL Tournament. The Falcons beat No. 4 Wolcott to earn a semifinal match Monday night against the top-seeded Woodland Hawks. Woodland, which entered the match with a 16-0-1 record, showed why it’s the top seed with a 2-0 victory at Ray Snyder Sr. Field in Waterbury.
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| Coach Jim Husbands talks to St. Paul at the half. |
“There’s a reason they’re ranked No. 1 in Class M,” St. Paul coach Jim Husbands said afterward. “They’re skillful, they’re athletic, and they’re deep.”
The Falcons were dealing with depth issues of their own. Briana Senese, a center midfielder, played sparingly in the semifinal due to injury. Senior Amy Leard, an outside defender, sat out with an injury. In the first half, junior Alexa Morneault limped off with an injury of her own, forcing Husbands to move the versatile Josselyn Zaldivar back to sweeper.
“There were times in the second half when we were playing five freshmen,” Husbands said. “You can’t play a team like this with five freshmen, but we did.”
Husbands said that is part of the learning experience in building a program. On this night, Woodland was too good.
“They just have too many skillful players in the middle of the field,” Husbands said.
The NVL semifinal loss doesn’t take away from what has been a great season so far for St. Paul. The Falcons have 10 wins entering the Class S state tournament, including the quarterfinal victory over Wolcott.
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| St. Paul’s Naomi Wells (11) and Alessandro Milardo guard their goal on a corner kick. |
“For us to have 10 wins, that was good,” Husbands said. “We beat Wolcott two out of three times.”
The good news for St. Paul is Woodland will be playing in Class M. That’s the last Class M team the Falcons will see.
“There’s a reason they’re No. 1,” Husbands said. “And from here on out, we’re not playing Class M schools. We’ll be playing Class S schools.”
Husbands believes the Falcons can do well in Class S. With 10 wins to its credit already, St. Paul could prove to be a tough out in Class S.
