RHS Girls’ Soccer
Garnets Just Keep on Winning
By Melanie Cane
For the third consecutive year, the Garnets Girls’ Soccer team has won the League title with a 14-1-1 record. Their only loss was to top seed Pearl River in OT on an own goal and they tied second seeded Albertus Magnus 0-0 in OT.
Rye is seeded third in Section I Class A. They shut out the 14th seed, Lourdes, in the opening game of playoffs, 6-0. Remi White netted a hat trick in the win.
They continued their winning streak on October 23 against the No. 6 seed Tappan Zee in the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win in double overtime under the lights of Nugent Stadium.
In the first half, the teams played evenly. There was a lot of midfield play and both teams got off a few on point shots that were saved by the respective goalies. With 4:26 left in the half, Leah Kenny laid it off to Remi White who scored on a diagonal shot from the right side. Two minutes later the Dutchmen answered off a breakaway.
At halftime, Rye realized they needed to play the ball more on the ground and exploit the corners of the field to help play to their speed. Rye dominated possession throughout the half. In the last five minutes of regulation they kept the ball at their goal. Through terrific passing and combination plays, they got off four consecutive shots that went just wide or slightly over the net.
Rye continued to dominate throughout the first ten–minute OT but could not finish. Then, less than two minutes into the second OT, Mia McGinty passed a clear ball to Claudia Rafa who ran all the way up field past the defenders and scored a left foot goal.
Olivia Dabinett had five saves. TZ goalie Kaitlyn McDonald had 16.
After the game against Tappan Zee, Coach Rich Savage said proudly, “Goalie Dabinett was spectacular. She came off her line and made a couple of tremendous saves that kept us in the game. Rachel Adelson and Sara DeGraw were outstanding, putting pressure on the outside and the defenders could not keep up with them. In the back, Molly Broderick and Eve Dalton were extremely solid. They shut down the other team, were composed, and made a number of big plays to break up offensive threats. And Meredith Tutun had an outstanding second half.”
Senior co-captain Broderick added, “It was a very tight game. It was great Claudia was able to break through and close it out.”
On Thursday, post-press time Garnets were set to play John Jay/Cross River, whom they beat in OT earlier this month, in the semifinals.
RHS Girls’ Soccer team standing for the National Anthem before the October 23 game against Tappan Zee.
