CT Championships: St. Joseph Repeats In Girls Soccer Saturday

HARTFORD, CT — It wasn't as easy as a year ago, but the undefeated St. Joseph Cadets of Trumbull still enjoyed a resounding victory against Notre Dame-Fairfield Saturday to earn a second straight state championship.

After a fast start, No. 2-seeded St. Joseph sweated out the CIAC Class LL title with a 3-1 over the fourth-seeded Lancers in a morning matchup at Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford.

After the game, an elated St. Joseph coach Jack Nogueira heaped praise on his opponents, who fell at his hands for the second straight year.

"I felt that they were a better team this year than last year," Nogueira said of the Lancers, coached by Wayne Mones. "I give them credit."

But Nogueira heaped plenty of credit on his championship-winning squad, saying that playing soccer at St. Joseph isn't easy. The expectations demand excellence.

And excellence was had on Saturday.

"My kids, every day, showed up and came to play," Nogueira said, adding, this year, he team had to defend against an attacking Notre Dame, especially in the first half.

In the end, his giddy group of high school soccer players hugged, smiled and shed a few tears.

For senior Taylor Jenkins, the win was the culmination of her high school career as well as a Most Valuable Player performance for the CIAC Class LL title game.

And in not being defeated at all in 2023, Nogueira channeled his inner Muhammad Ali in describing the 2023 Cadets, calling them "the greatest of all time."

The championship was a rematch of 2022, when St. Joseph easily cruised to the Class L title, defeating those same Lancers, 3-0.

It all started fast for St. Joseph, when junior Sara Parker dumped a goal in front of a busy Notre Dame goal to put the defending champs up 1-0 in the game's third minute.

Then, 16 minutes later, the Cadets took command of the game when junior Alex Pino slotted in a shot to give her squad a 2-0 lead.

But Notre Dame senior Sarah Rieger made it a game with a nice goal in the 23rd minute, cutting the Lancers' deficit in half, 2-1, where it stood at halftime and at the game's conclusion.

With 11 minutes left, St. Joseph put the game away when Jenkins slammed home a goal after dribbling from the end line to the net, putting St. Joseph up 3-1.

Going into the 2023 title game, the Cadets had a dominant regular season, winning 15 and only drawing once.

Notre Dame-Faifield was nearly up to par, going 13-2 with one draw en route to the CIAC playoffs.

Saturday's morning match was played under gray skies amid pre-game drizzle, making the 10 a.m. start time seem much earlier.

By halftime, the sun came out and the gray tone of the game turned brighter, though the temperature cooled amid brisk, windy conditions.