 |
| Wolcott’s Taylor Riviezzo (10) had the only goal of the match. |
The NVL girls soccer tournament quarterfinal on Saturday between Wolcott and St. Paul could have gone in a couple different directions after Taylor Riviezzo’s goal put the Eagles up 1-0.
Riviezzo corralled a loose ball in front of the Falcon goal and put it home with 23:06 left in the first half. From there, Wolcott held off St. Paul for a 1-0 victory at a sometimes blustery Joe Monroe Field on the campus of Wolcott High School.
The Eagles will play in the semifinal round Tuesday night. The Falcons wait to see where they stand in the Class S state tournament.
 |
| St. Paul keeper Alessandra Milardo keeps her eyes on Riviezzo’s shot. |
Now, about those different directions.
1. Wolcott runs away with the match
Riviezzo actually had several other chances to score. Two shots went over the crossbar, and another left-footed attempt was saved by St. Paul keeper Alessandra Milardo.
2. St. Paul gets an equalizer, and maybe more…
The Falcons made some runs at the Eagle goal in the second half, and a couple nearly resulted in goals. One shot from Julia Dess dribbled just to the right of the near post with 23:23 left in regulation. At 21:08, Dess was at it again and clanked a low ball off the left post. At 19:48, Wolcott keeper Cynthia Dias was able to recover a dangerous loose ball in front of her goal.
There was also a direct kick that sailed through
the football uprights above the crossbar.
 |
| St. Paul’s Julia Dess (40) put a couple scares into Wolcott, but none resulted in a goal. |
In the end, the match went 1-0 in favor of Wolcott. The closeness of the match comes as no surprise to anyone who knows what happened in the regular season meetings. On Sept. 19, Wolcott and St. Paul played to a 0-0 tie on the turf of Monroe Field. Just this past Wednesday, the Eagles beat the Falcons 2-1 at St. Paul Catholic High School.
A few quick observations:
- Wolcott moves the ball well on the ground: There were times where the Eagles were able to string together several passes. Those created some good opportunities. Of course, there’s also good individual talent like Riviezzo and Megan Doubleday.
- Davis and Dess are dangerous: St. Paul’s Kendall Davis is very fast and can put on a counterattack in a heartbeat. Dess is pretty quick too, and he showed off some good ball skills.
- Both teams could be tough outs in the state tournament: Wolcott and St. Paul played hard Saturday, especially in the second half. There was a lot of back and forth between the team, and each has weapons it can deploy on offense. There are also solid role players on the squads who do their part.
Click here to see my photos from the match.
