Staples Nips Ludlowe in Hard Fought Contest

Editor's Note: The following was submitted by Staples Girls Soccer. 

Staples jumped out to an early lead with freshman magic when Lydia Shaw accepted a beautiful through ball from Tia Zajec. Shaw showed great speed beating the defender through the seam, dribbling, forcing the goalie to commit.  Shaw's cut to the right rewarded her with an empty net and an easy finish.  Ludlowe, a talented team that came in 0-3 after playing three tough teams, responded with all sorts of pressure against the Staples defense.  

Now it was the sophomores turn to shine as two players new to varsity this year, Elizabeth Mitas and Kate Lesch, mixed it up with Ludlowe's talented forwards.  Co-captains Meghan Lonergan and Megan Root held the center of the defense, but the star of the show was junior Mary Bennewitz with some outstanding saves including a tip over the cross bar on a very dangerous free kick.  Toward the end of the half, Staples started possessing better and freshman Morgan McWhirter was fighting for the ball near the spot when she was clearly fouled for a PK.  Ludlowe's keeper guessed correctly and a nice save kept the score at 1-0.  

Solid passing by from senior captain Gea Mitas, junior Maggie Walsh and Shaw set up some chances for fellow freshman Charlotte Rossi and junior Lauren Garcia.  Ludlowe had an experienced, talented defense that was up to the challenge.

The second half saw another burst from Ludlowe.  They held possession in their offensive half for a prolonged period.  A few balls got deep into the zone, but some close marking and missed touches had them come up empty.  At the 76th minute, Garcia made a run down the right side and made a great cross past the goal keeper.  Rossi was where she needed to be.  But the ball refused to go in.  Fortunately, the game was almost over and Staples finished this important game against a competitor for the FCIAC playoffs with a 1-0 victory.

Coach Driscoll was pleased with the performance: "The team battled in a very intense and competitive game.  We defended well as a group and had great support from GK Mary Bennewitz.  Forward Lydia Shaw showed fantastic composure in front of goal to capitalize on our first scoring opportunity of the game."

The girls soccer team stays busy with a game Friday, 9/20 at a new time of 3:30pm at home.  The following game is Tuesday, 4pm at Danbury.  Go Wreckers.