Senior Julia Massaro led the Wildcats to a 16-8 victory over Green Farms Academy on April 24. This was the Wildcats ninth consecutive win and they are currently undefeated this season.
By Melanie Cane
Senior Julia Massaro led the Wildcats to a 16-8 victory over Green Farms Academy on April 24. This was the Wildcats ninth consecutive win and they are currently undefeated this season.
The Wildcats came out flat, allowing the dangerous Dragons to take the first two possessions. But after two masterful saves by goalie Charlotte Fleishman, Rye Country Day won possession of the draw and Massaro opened the scoring. Green Farms answered with a goal off the draw a minute later. Then, Massaro had the first of two key interceptions, allowing fellow co-captain Zoe Verni to score off a pass from Taylor Regan. Regan scored a minute later when Greens Farms committed a shooting space foul, giving her a free position attempt. More fouls allowed for two more Wildcat goals in the half, by Regan and Massaro. Rye Country Day had a 4-1 lead at the 11-minute mark, but Greens Farms stole the ball off a check and scored. Massaro answered back. The Dragons then went on a two-goal run and the half ended with Rye up 6-5.
The Dragons carried their momentum into the second half, scoring twice and taking their only lead of the game, 7-6. Emily Duarte tied the game on a fast break and shifted the momentum to the Wildcats, who went on a four-goal run after that with Massaro, Verni, Sam Kost and Regan contributing. GFA answered, making it 11-8 at the 6:47 mark, but Rye Country Day shut them down after that, and through a combination of forcing turnovers, winning possessions, and excellent defense, they punctuated their win with a five-goal run. The final goal dribbled off Verni’s stick.
The majority of Rye Country Day’s goals were off fast breaks and 8-meter shots. Both Massaro and Regan had four goals and Verni added three. Coach Georgette Summers said, “The girls had a good sense of when changing the field or beating our opponent with a long pass was going to be effective.”
Massaro said, “This was a hard-fought game, and one in which we needed to play as a team. We are very fortunate with the talent we have and the key to our success has always been our chemistry. At the half, we realized we were not playing up to our potential and needed to raise our energy level, and we did.”
