West Hartford’s Hall High School defeated Southington in girls soccer on Nov. 2, and heads to the second round of the Class LL tournament.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

This season has been one of the best on record for the Hall girls soccer team. The Titans finished 12-1-3, reached the semifinals of the CCC Tournament only to lose in a penalty shutout, and entered the state Class LL tournament as the fifth seed on their home field.

All that is nice, but in the single elimination run to the title anything cane happen at any time. In Saturday’s opener with Southington (No. 23, 6-9), Hall did what needed to be done and came away with a 1-0 win on an own goal by the Knights.

“I thought we could have been up a few goals early on with our breakaways,” said Titans head coach Scott Ferguson.

They probably would have if not for the outstanding play of freshman goalie Emma Hallett of Southington. She was quick off her line, fearless to challenge, and solid at handling shots without rebounds.

Hall’s offensive plan was built around playing through balls in the air and on the ground and trying to outrace the visitors for possession. Unfortunately, there were too many straight runs – instead of diagonal runs – a few offsides, and Hallett standing in the way. Her first big challenge came just 12 minutes in when Maya Reilly came in on a 1-on-1 breakaway only to have Hallett charge off the line and take the shot up high on her body as she slid. She was also quick off her line to cover Kiki Melick’s try, before once again shutting down Reilly in another breakaway chance – all within the first 15 minutes of play.

Southington was not without its time of possession, but the Knights couldn’t get that final ball to set up any dangerous shots on Hall goalie Mabel Cook. At the other end, Reilly, Melick, and Aliza Schleif were making good runs, but could not find the back of the net.

The wind was at Southington’s back giving them a little more distance on their free kicks and clearances, and they took full advantage of it in transition. They almost made it pay off with just over three minutes to play when Emily Boucher drove a long free kick towards the Hall goal. Her teammate, Taylor Walwyn, flicked the ball on goal with her head, but Cook was tracking the ball and was there to catch it. At the break, the score was tied at 0.

“We felt we were in control for most of the half,” Ferguson said. “Their freshman goalie was fantastic!”

Southington took the opening kick and went on the attack, pushing Hall back on its heels. The Knights had three consecutive corner kicks within a 1:00 span but could not dent the net. The best chance was on the second corner when Southington managed to get off three shots inside the box, but each was blocked by a Hall defender.

The Titans regained the momentum about seven minutes in when Reilly made a big run down the left side, but her crossing attempt was partially deflected and recovered by Southington. Reilly also had one more breakaway chance on Hallett, but the freshman keeper beat her to the ball to cover it.

Moments later Alex Ackerman drove a corner towards the far post that was nodded away by a Knights defender who stayed in position on the play.

With 18:30 to play in regulation, Hall got the game’s first score. Again, it was Ackerman at the center of things as she pulled a ball back to her  left foot to gain an angle and sent a cross toward Melick at the far post. Two defenders went up to clear the ball, but it ended up deflecting into the net for the game’s only score.

“Kiki came in and created something for us,” Ferguson said of his high-speed substitute. She was a huge spark for us.”

Melick’s speed and energy was infectious to her teammates as they seemed to feed off it and had a quicker step to their game. Melick used her speed at both ends of the field, creating offensive chances and putting pressure on Southington players as they tried to move out of their defensive end.

The Knights picked up their offensive attack again just after the halfway mark of the half. Two long distance chances were launched on the Hall goal, including a 45- yarder from Claire Eigo, but Cook handled both. At the other end, Hall began eating away at the clock and protecting its lead by taking the ball towards the corner flag whenever possible.

Melick and teammates were able to take more than a minute off the clock  by forcing Southington to knock the ball into touch, giving the hosts throw-ins and letting them secure the 1-0 win. “We could have looked at that first half and said we were unlucky,” Ferguson said after the game. “But I really believe that our CCC semifinal (a 2-1 loss in penalty kicks to Farmington) was a great learning experience for us.”

With the win, Hall earns another home field game in the second round where the Titans will host No. 12 Ridgefield on Monday at 4 p.m. The Tigers finished the regular season at 9-2-5, and were unbeaten in their last five games.

Game Notes:

Nine of the top 10 seeds in Class LL moved on to the second round. Fairfield Ludlowe – the nine seed – was shut out by No. 24 seed Fairfield Warde 2-0. The number 1, 2, and 3 seeds all had byes in the opening round.

Conard’s girls soccer season came to an end Saturday when the 23rd-seeded Red Wolves were shut out by No. 10 South Windsor 4-0 in the opening round. After a strong start to the season, Conard did not win a game after a victory over Bristol Eastern on Sept. 23. They finished at 6-8-3 on the season, losing their final seven matches.

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