By
Holly D’Addio, Courier
Sports Writer:
Beginning
the season, it was tough to imagine the girls’ soccer team at Valley Regional
High School topping last
year’s record, especially after losing several key seniors to graduation. But
not only did the Warriors top last year’s record, they made it further into the
state tournament and fought their hardest in recent memory this season against
teams no one thought they’d beat.
“We
had so many great accomplishments,” said Coach Rob Shepard. “One, we overcame a
bad start of 0-3 and ended up finishing out the season at 9-3-1 and finished
strong in the Shoreline Conference. Second, you have to look at the play of
this team in the state tournament. They held three teams scoreless for a total
of 230 minutes and the big victory against Suffield who was No. 1 in Class M
and No. 3 in the State of Connecticut
Girl’s Soccer Poll was huge. The girls played incredible that game and
will be a highlight for a long time.”
This
year’s seniors had a huge role in the success of the 2008 season for Valley.
Captains Lizzy O’Connor, Mary McGee, Chelsea Crehan, and Emma Russell were
undoubtedly hard workers. O’Connor, a veteran goalie who has minded the net for
Valley for some time, recorded six shutouts on her part, while McGee was a
Second Team All-Shoreline pick and voted MVP of the team. Crehan’s solid
offense wasn’t overlooked, as she earned the Offensive Award for the team, and
Russell was named Honorable Mention All-Shoreline and earned the Coach’s and
Warrior Awards.
“All
four captains brought leadership, knowledge, and were very caring to all of the
girls in this program,” said Shepard. “All of the girls bonded well together
and are why we were successful this year because of the leadership they brought
everyday.”
“Emma
was a great team leader—she was very outspoken and gave a lot of effort
everyday whether it was in practice or games,” continued Shepard. “Chelsea was a girl with a
talent of finishing balls that were about 20 to 25 yards out at weird angles
and had the touch of putting shots over keepers’ heads. She had a lot of
responsibilities for us including taking corner kicks and the long throw-ins.
Mary was the type of person who can show up every day and put a smile on your
face with a very upbeat personality. But when she was on the field there was
not one girl that was going to beat her—she was our best versatile player this
year, as she not only played in the midfield for us but also, at times, played
sweeper. Lizzy was a great goalkeeper for us.
She kept us in a lot of games, especially within the last three weeks of
the season in being solid for us in the net and had six shutouts this season. Her
best game was against Suffield in the second round of states where she was all
over the field.”
Seniors
Robin Arnold and Sarah Donovan also brought leadership to the team and were a
large part of the team’s camaraderie.
“Robin
was very quiet, but a special person who didn’t play much this year but wanted
to be a part of the team and all of the girls respected her,” said Shepard. “Sarah
was also very quiet and kept to herself but has played varsity since her
freshman year and is one of our best finishers on the team and very well-respected.”
Also
contributing to Valley’s success were juniors Jesse Reed, Allie Pash, and Megan
Perkins. Reed earned Honorable Mention All-Shoreline recognition, Pash earned
the team’s Defensive Award, and Perkins earned First Team All-Shoreline honors
for her efforts on offense and was a high-scorer for the team.
Despite
losing six key seniors after this season, Valley can only look to next season
with anticipation as the team will return more talent. The junior varsity
program ended its second consecutive undefeated season and with a large
sophomore class next year, the team will no doubt be solid.
“We
had an incredibly solid freshman class this season as they led the JV team to
another undefeated season,” said Shepard. “We can only hope for another great
season next year with all of that talent. The only thing I can add is that we
were led by a great group of seniors and they will be sorely missed. They
provided a great make-up to this team and provided us with leadership, desire,
and all six of them had big hearts inside of them for their teammates as well.”
Valley
Girls’ Soccer SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Season in Review
Record:
11-7-1
Captains:
Lizzy O’Connor, Chelsea Crehan, Mary McGee, and Emma Russell
Seniors:
O’Connor, Crehan, McGee, Russell, Robin Arnold, and Sarah Donovan
Biggest
Accomplishment: The team overcame a rough 0-3 start and ended up finishing the
regular season at 9-3-1, while also holding three teams in the state tournament
scoreless for a total of 230 minutes. Valley also topped No. 1 seeded Suffield
in the state tournament.
MVP:
McGee
Coaches
Award: Russell
Warrior
Award: Russell
Defensive
Award: Allison Pash
Offensive
Award: Crehan
Most
Improved Award: Donovan and Ashley Paholski
First
Team All-Shoreline: Megan Perkins
Second
Team All-Shoreline: McGee
Honorable
Mention All-Shoreline: Russell and Jesse Reed
Next
Year’s Outlook: The Warriors return next season with a continued solid core
group of players, including a large sophomore class, and look to make another
strong run.
Pictured: Much of the success of the Valley girls' soccer team this season
came from seniors Robin Arnold, Sarah Donovan, Chelsea Crehan, Mary McGee,
Lizzy O'Connor, and Emma Russell.
Photo by Scott Bradley