The outcome is always unpredictable and the rivalry is not for the faint at heart. The girls varsity soccer team faced off against its number one rival, Sacred Heart Academy, on September 24th bringing out the best in St. Anthony’s with a 2-0 victory over the Spartans.
A scoreless first half led to strong defensive play by St. Anthony’s (3-0) defenders Sr. Sophia Iaccino, Sr. Christine Fabrizi, Sr. Alexandra Milano and Sr. Emily Sanders. They pressed every ball that found its way toward Jr. goalie Kaitlyn Mahoney who totaled six saves.
In the first half Head Coach Sue Alber said, “we played with a lot of emotion and it showed, it got to us.” As the second half opened each team was looking to score; the intensity was still high but the message was clear.
Sr. Brianna Passaro scored with 33:46 left to play, as the ball rebounded off the SH goalie Sara Micheli’s hands who made 10 saves. “The team settled in and showed who we are and played the game the way we know how” said Alber.
She was right as Sanders put the winning touch on the game with 8:06 left to play. “I had one goal this season because I was on the bench most of last year injured, I just wanted to score this season” said Sanders
In great fashion she did, from 30 yards out Sanders strong leg sent the ball just over the fingers of SH goalie and right into the net. It was impressive and one memory every senior athlete looks to have.
This win was more than two goals as each player did their job well defending and attacking. Both forward juniors Brianna Jablonowski and Nicole Gordon and midfielder Lauren Haggerty’s efforts did not go unnoticed as they helped hold SHA scoreless, now 3-1.
