West Hartford’s Northwest Catholic High School girls soccer team made a dramatic run to the finals of the CIAC Class M tournament, finishing their season as runners-up after losing to Foran (Milford) in Saturday’s championship game.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

The crossbar on a soccer goal is 4-5 inches wide. Saturday it seemed it was 4-5 feet wide for Northwest Catholic as they hit the bar multiple times – including with :20 to play – in a 3-2 loss to Foran in the CIAC Class M Girls Soccer Tournament final at Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford.

Trailing by one, and applying pressure, Maeve Staunton rattled a ball off the crossbar and post joint, and an ensuing corner kick that did not create a scoring chance sealed the Lions’ fate in a back-and-forth game.

“Soccer is one of those games where sometimes things don’t go your way,” said head coach Steve Carnes, who saw his team fall in the final in consecutive years.

Heading into the game, it was hard to pick a favorite as the two clubs were nearly identical. Foran was the 14 seed, and had beaten both the second and third seeds along the way. They had not given up a goal in the four games they won to advance to the championship after a regular season saw them go 11-5. Northwest Catholic was the 12 seed, and eliminated the No. 8 and No. 13 seeds along their way to Hartford. The only goal they had surrendered was in their first game of the tournament when they beat Daniel Hand in OT. Then there were these two nuggets – both teams are the Lions, and both head coaches are named Steve.

It was Foran that was best right out of the gate, making frequent dangerous runs down the left side. Game MVP Alexis Lafferty was creating chances on the back end of some long balls. Northwest’s right-side defense was under constant pressure but the backline of Olivia Roberts and Emma Ahlstrand, with help from Allie Loveless from the midfield, held up well.

Foran had two early corners, but could not convert. On the second it was Staunton relieving the pressure by dribbling the ball over midfield and into attacking territory. The pressure from Foran paid off in the 13th minute off a corner by Lafferty. Her ball headed towards the back post, about 5 yards out from the line. Teammate Peighton Nash managed to get a piece of it and knocked the ball into the net for the 1-0 lead.

The goal seemed to snap Northwest out of the early game funk and they began to get more possession and pressure, but were not getting any dangerous chances at goalie Kayla Frederick’s net. At the other end, Foran would get seven total corner’s in the first half, but could not get the ball behind Catholic goalie Abby Casper from them.

Foran nearly doubled the lead with just under 15 minutes to go in the opening half. Daniela Boutate hit a high, curling shot that was on target, but Casper managed to deflect the ball off the crossbar.

Staunton had the goal of the game for Northwest Catholic one minute later. The senior co-captain, who was drawing double teams from the defense, managed to find space with possession of the ball. She crossed midfield beating one defender, and moved with the ball towards the center of the field. She drew two more Foran players, but managed to work past them, finally striking a low ball to Frederick’s left that the goalie could not get to, and the score was tied at 1.

Six minutes later Northwest nearly took the lead off its first corner kick of the game. The ball was nodded down off the turf and took a big bounce toward the inside of the back post, but Brookly Nittoly held her position on the post and nodded the ball out of danger.

Before the half would end, Northwest had three more chances that could have changed the score in their favor. Sam Casper had a good run at the ball heading into the box, but a Foran defender managed to shield her off long enough for Frederick to come out and secure the ball. With three and a half to go, Staunton’s header off a corner hit the cross bar.

And with just two minutes to play, Mya Montoney was chasing a loose ball into the box, and Frederick was coming off her line for the same ball. Frederick’s attempt at clearing the ball failed as she dubbed the kick, but she was bailed out by a Foran defender who was able to beat Montoney to the fee ball and knock it out of danger.

The 1-1 tie after the opening 40 minutes was probably a fair result for both Foran and Northwest Catholic as each had its share of possession and good chances to score.

Before the fans could get comfortable in their seats for the second half, it would be Foran taking advantage of a Northwest misplay to take the lead. In the third minute, Maisie Boucher – who was a rock all game – played a ball back to Casper. But the senior goalie – under pressure – mishit the ball and it rolled over her foot towards the unguarded goal. Boutate was there to pick up the loose ball and deposit it into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead.

It was a moment that could have broken the spirit of Northwest, but these Lions were not ready to give up. “That second goal, it was just a split-second decision,” Carnes said.

Once again it was Northwest feeding off its opponents’ goal. Staunton’s left-footed shot hit the crossbar, then it was Loveless, who had a very solid game on both offense and defense from the midfield, going low and forcing Frederick to cover.

The West Hartford Lions had more snarl, energy, and good scoring chances in the minutes that followed the goal that put them down 2-1. Foran was not just sitting back, they continued to work the sidelines to move the all in transition, and with 33:29 to go, Nash nearly tied it back up when she cut the ball back and blistered a high shot from 15 yards out that just went over the crossbar. Five minutes late Staunton was fouled two yards outside the box setting up a free kick from straight on the goal. But Northwest was unable to generate a scoring chance.

Three minutes later the pressure by Northwest would pay off with a tying goal after Frederick misplayed a ball in front of her goal. Northwest’s first try was blocked away be a defender, but the ball fell to Staunton who laid off a perfect square pass to an onrushing senior co-captain Ashlyn Sklenka who drove the ball high, off the underside of the crossbar, deflecting straight down over the goal line to tie it up once again.

“We connected passes much better in the second half,” Carnes said. “When we did that it opened things up. When we played their game, things got complicated.”

For the next six minutes the teams went back and forth, up and down the pitch, with both working hard to find what they hoped would be the clinching goal. Foran managed to get the ball up the right side of the field, getting a series of throw-ins and, with 18:48 to go, a corner kick. The ball sailed in about 6 yards out and Casper went up and pushed the ball out. But the ball was pushed into the center of play and midfielder Maria Azpiri-Sudusky drilled a one timer into the upper left corner of the goal for the 3-2 lead.

Once again, Northwest refused to buckle and continued to press forward with Loveless in particular working hard to create chances from the midfield and Boucher making strong runs forward from her defensive position. It was with 20 second to play when Staunton hit the crossbar one final time on her team’s best, last chance to tie things.

The ball would be played out of bounds by Foran, and Northwest scrambled to get something on goal with a final corner, but it was not to be and Foran would win its first girls state soccer title.

“I wish we could have gotten it, especially for our seniors,” said Carnes. “Three finals for them and we have lost all of them. There was a lot of pressure on us to win it, and that is hard,” he added. There are seven seniors on the team this year, and for a group of them, a win Saturday would have given them something extra special. Four players would have been two-sport state champions. “We wanted to get that for them but today it just didn’t go our way.”

Northwest Catholic finishes the season at 15-5-1. After the game Carnes talked about another accomplishment by his team he was proud of this season. Last year the Lions fell in the final to Lewis Mills. The two met again in the fifth game of the regular season this year and the Lions fell 4-1. In their last game of the season in October, Northwest finally solved the puzzle and claimed a 2-1 win over the Spartans. In this year’s Class M state semifinal the two met again, and it was the Lions moving on with the 1-0 win.

“They have been so resilient,” Carnes said of his team. “Losing to Mills last year and then again in the regular season, then beating them twice, that was incredible,” said the coach.

Game notes

• This was Northwest Catholic’s fourth appearance in the final in the last five years.
• They have now lost their last four appearances (’25, ’24, ’22,’ 21) The 2021 loss was in the Class S final.
• All-time, the program is now 4-4 in State Final games.
• Northwest won the title in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 21015.
• The two goals allowed by Foran was the most in the teams last 12 games (including four shutouts in the tournament this season)
• This was Foran’s first appearance in the final.
• Foran sophomore Alexis Lafferty was named the MVP of the final.
• Northwest’s program will say goodbye to seven seniors on this years roster – including six starters.
• Foran could be building something as they have just four seniors on the team – with three of them starting Saturdays Final.

 

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