Rye Country Day Girls’ Soccer

Wildcats Win Final Home Game in Style

By Melanie Cane

Through rain, wind, and cold in the first half and then, miraculously, sunshine for the second half, Rye Country Day’s Girls’ Soccer team played their best game of the season October 17, shutting out Gunnery 4-0.

After celebrating seniors Charlotte Townley, Annie Cooper, Georgia Mandell, and Alex Medow, the adrenaline-pumped Wildcats hit the field with intensity and focus. Despite the weather, they dominated possession with great passes and combination plays. They took a few shots which were saved, but their first real threat was on a free shot by Isa Stronski, which went just over the center of the box. With seven minutes left in the half, Alik Shehadeh made a beautiful pass to freshman Julia Kavanagh who angled it past the goalie on the right side of the net.

Rye Country Day took a 1-0 lead into the second half and Stronski kicked a rocket from 25 yards over the goalie’s head to make it 2-0. She scored again on a pass down the middle from Laura Baine. Charlotte Price scored the last goal in the last minute of the game from the right wing at the edge of the box.

Senior captain Townley couldn’t help but beam. “Today’s game was the most fun I’ve had all season. Our team played so beautifully that everyone deserves recognition.” Senior attack Mandell echoed her sentiments. “Today was the last home game for us seniors and it couldn’t have been a better send off. We passed well, had some great combination plays, and all the girls hustled to every 50/50 ball. We are so grateful to our teammates and coaches for making Senior Day so memorable.”

Coach Alin Andrei was pretty pleased as well. “All the girls played their hardest and executed what we had worked on in practice the day before. They kept their composure when we had the ball and applied pressure when we didn’t.”

The team is 8-2-3 with four more away games to play in regular season.

Senior captain Charlotte Townley

Laura Baine going for a steal