67°
STAMFORD, Conn. The Westhill High School girls soccer team finally met its match Wednesday afternoon. In a battle of the last two unbeaten teams in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, St. Joseph's explosive offense played neck-and-neck with Westhills rock-solid defense.
It took just one momentary lapse in the second half for St. Joseph (Trumbull) to score the games lone goal. On the attack midway through the half, Westhill got caught a bit too far up in the offensive zone.
St. Joseph intercepted a pass, and had just one defender to beat. Cadets forward Sammi Grasso raced unopposed to the net, giving victory to the Cadets, 1-0. It was just the second goal the Vikings have allowed all season.
I cant be disappointed, really. It was a really good game, Westhill head coach Dave Flower said. They took one of their chances and we didnt take ours. Our aim right now is to play them again.
Freshman phenom Jess Laszlo, who had scored 16 goals in Westhills first nine games, had her welcome to the big leagues moment against the Cadets. Laszlo was closely matched by tall St. Joseph defender Cori Scales, who stonewalled the freshman throughout the game. Laszlo struggled to get a clean shot off all afternoon and missed wide on a direct kick with less than five minute to play.
[Scales] did her job well, which is what her team needed her to do, Laszlo said. St. Joes is a really good team. Theres so much pressure and you want to attack the net, but its not as easy as it sounds or looks.
Westhill had more than a few opportunities to score the equalizer, taking eight shots at the goal in the second half. Despite two free kicks and a pair of corner kicks, the Vikings could not finish.
I think we almost had to lose, Laszlo said. We dont want to go into the playoffs without having that taste of losing, because if someone scored on us then we wouldnt know what to do. I cant wait to get back at them.
Westhill (9-1-0) will try to rebound when it travels to Ridgefeild on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. game.
Follow Eric Gendron on Twitter for the latest MSC-Fairfield County sports coverage. Like The Daily Stamford on Facebook.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
