The Hall girls soccer team hosted RHAM in West Hartford on Monday night. [Updated]

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Playing a near perfect second half, the Hall girls’ soccer team moved to 7-0-1 on the season with a 2-0 win over RHAM on Monday night. Goalie Mabel Cook was not called on a lot, but when she was she responded as the Titans posted their sixth shutout of the season.

The first 40 minutes of the game saw both Hall and RHAM have chances, with the host side scoring the first goal. Kyra Baun took the ball and with her right foot hit the far side of the net just 3:20 in. Her effort came just seconds after teammate Leah Berey saw her effort stopped by goalie Andrea Bartolucci.

Although RHAM would have its chances, Hall had the better of the scoring chances and Bartolucci turned in a standout game, especially in the second half. Hall used deliberate passing, good support, and strong playmaking to set up many chances.

Alex Ackerman saw her shot go over the crossbar, and Berey sent  a beautiful crossing ball into the face of the RHAM goal, but it was just inches too far away from Aliza Schleif crashing in from the wing. Baun would launch a great chip that saw Bartolucci outrace Schleif to the ball near the top of the box.

RHAM had two good chances, the first with just under 20 minutes to go when Audrey Eckert sent a dangerous cross into the box that missed her teammates, and again with 12 minutes to play in the first when Cook sprinted off her line to beat Colly Kopp to a through ball. With under two to go, Berey sent Maya Reilly free with a long through ball that had the Hall midfielder going stride-for-stride with a RHAM defender who got the touch and pushed the ball out.

Hall coach Soctt Ferguson was adjusting players for much of the half, looking for different combinations that would work well together. Despite the 1-0 lead at the break, he felt he had not done enough to help his team.

“We came out flat after Saturday’s game with Conard,“ Ferguson said. “I tried to use a different formation and at half I told the players 90% of the reason we only led 1-0 was me.”

Apparently his players didn’t take it personally as the Titans came out in the second half and dominated from the start. “We’ve had some really good second halves,” said Ferguson. “Monday night’s was another one of them.”

The next 40 minutes saw Hall play composed soccer at both ends of the field, taking advantage of their speed and playmaking ability. Just 2:20 in, Schleif  found Berey with a pass and she launched a shot on goal that Bartolucci had to go all out to push wide. Just under 8 minutes in, with Hall controlling the ball, Ackerman hit one of her “Acker-bomb” corner kicks, dropping it in the perfect spot, far enough out to keep Bartolucci from having a chance to come after it, and close enough for her teammates to get a good run onto. The ball was headed down and amid traffic in front of the goal Reilly made no mistake by banging it in off the crossbar for the 2-0 lead.

Ackerman’s skill from the corner is turning into a real weapon for the Titan offense. She had multiple chances from the corner and delivered the ball into the right spot on each one.

The final score could well have been much more that 2-0 if not for the efforts of Bartolucci. Her 12 saves in the second half, many on close-in shots, kept RHAM within reach. She shut down Berey again with a nice diving save as Berey used her speed and dribbling skills to weave around and through defenders to get the free space to shoot.

“That keeper was phenomenal tonight,” Ferguson said of Bartolucci.

At the other end, Cook and company didn’t have a lot of work in the final 40 minutes, but the senior keeper was there when her team needed her – grabbing a long free kick ticketed to the far side and then racing off her line again to clear a through ball right in front of an onrushing attacker.

Once again it was Sienna Calabro anchoring a strong defense and the midfield turning in a solid effort in shutting down RHAM and setting up their own offense. “We have to keep our middle together and I thought Katherine Mormina at right back was extraordinary. She was creating tough matchup for them all night long,” said the Hall head coach.

The Titans travel to Bristol to take on Eastern on Thursday and then have a big showdown with Glastonbury on Monday and another tough game with Farmington coming up on Oct. 4.

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