The Hall girls soccer team lost 3-1 to Avon on Monday in West Hartford. 

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

As the calandar turns to October, the days are getting shorter. So, too, are the days for Hall’s girls soccer team to find their identity and hit their stride before the season ends.

The Titans have been streaky, and dropped to 6-4-1 after a 3-1 loss to Avon on Monday. “There has to be a purpose and an identity for us,” said longtime head coach Scott Ferguson. “I have been coaching three decades and I am drawing on every experience to figure out what needs to change.”

Watching the team play it is clear it is not a matter of effort or enthusiasm. Even down to 10 players and trailing by two goals to the Falcons, Hall continued fighting, eventually scoring late in the game. “The girls have been really positive and they have been open to changes,” Ferguson said.

Monday’s game was a chance for the Titans to test themselves against a senior-laden, talented team – the kind of team they will have to beat if they have any post-season aspirations. The visiting Falcons had the better of play from the opening kick, applying the pressure for the opening eight minutes, forcing Hall to play on its heels and in its own defensive zone.

They did punch back at the nine-minute mark when Kyra Baun set up Alex Ackerman for a great scoring chance. Her shot was deflected up by Avon goalie Kate Abbate, who then gathered in the ball.

Three minutes later Avon’s pressure would pay off as the Falcons’ Alana Garza fired a right-footed shot from about 25 yards out that sailed past the outstretched hands of Hall goalie Sadie Leibin for the 1-0 lead. Hall managed to find a better balance of play after the Avon goal.

In the midfield Leah Berey, Baun, and Paige Keena were playing strong games on both sides of the ball, but apart from one other good chance on goal, Hall didn’t produce many other opportunities. With 10:30 to go, the visitors nearly doubled their lead when a long free kick was right on target, forcing Leibin to go high and push it over the crossbar.

Avon used an arsenal of on-target, long free kicks all game long – often times at more than 40 yards – to set up scoring chances. Trailing by just one at the break, Hall was still very much in a position to come back for the win over the final 40 minutes.

“We have stretches, but when we don’t score we get down and it’s hard to keep the intensity,” Ferguson said of his team.

Hall flipped the script to start the second half, bringing that much-sought-after intensity and created some offense. Avon’s backline stood strong though, and kept the Titans off the board. Hall’s defense was also playing a strong half with Avon often looking to use the long ball or through pass to get past them. Seniors Sienna Calabro, Katie Hurlock, and Anya Leshem combined with Katherine Momina and Alexa Reilly to deny a second goal. Leshem also gave Hall a big boost on offense with her long runs up the sideline to get the ball into dangerous areas.

Avon would use the long ball to threaten for another goal, and that led to two others as the game progressed. First it was a 45-yard free kick from the right side of the field that found its way to the back post on a perfect flight, forcing Leibin to get a hand on it and push it wide. Nine minutes later it was a long corner kick that dropped about five yards off the goal line that Leibin could not corral, that fell to the foot of Gabby Hughes who banged it into the net for the 2-0 lead.

“We are in a rut right now,” said Ferguson. “We had a good start to the season, but now we are leaking goals and can’t score.”

The Titans were almost gifted a goal by Abbate with just under 20 minutes left in the game. The goalie has a habit of using her feet to deflects away low shots, instead of using her hands to catch them. Baun let a long shot go on net, and Abbate deflected it with her foot. Hall’s Alisa Schlief managed to get a foot on the rebound, but it went wide of the goal.

With Hall trailing by 2 and the clock winding down, Ferguson pushed up one of his defenders to get more offense, but the move would backfire. With 14:33 to play, Alexa Reilly would get a straight red card when she grabbed the jersey of an Avon attacker who was on her way to a clean breakaway. Fortunately for Hall, the foul occurred outside the 18-yard box, and this time the Avon free kick sailed harmlessly wide and high of the goal.

The Falcons began pushing for more goals now playing with the advantage of one player. Frequent through balls were sent to allow forwards to run onto them, taxing the backline of Hall again and again. Less than four minutes after the sending off, Avon would salt away the win when Katherine Dugan sent a ball forward for Cate Dugan to run onto. She did just that, getting body position on the trailing defender and forcing Leibin to rush out of the goal to try and break up the run. Dugan calmly played the ball past the goalie, caught up to the ball, and calmly slid it home into the empty net with 10:47 to go for the 3-0 lead.

Despite the three-goal deficit and being down a player, Hall kept working hard. They hit a crossbar on one shot and then, with 1:35 to play, spoiled the Avon shutout.

Vienna Knox sent in a low cross from the right wing which was knocked around inside the box. It fell to Alex Ackerman who knew just what to do and banged it past Abbate to get her team on the board.

Hall has just five regular season games left to play to secure a better post-season spot. Barring a total collapse, they should make the state tournament field, but they are still in search of that momentum that will carry them into the tournament and help them make a run there.

“We have to keep trying to find something,” said Ferguson. “The girls have been really positive about the changes we make.”

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