The varsity girls’ soccer team took on the Stony Point Tigers on Senior Night at the Warrior Bowl on Tuesday, March 12. The home side emerged victorious by a comfortable 4-0 margin, with Hailey Martinez ‘21, Madison Larrea ‘19, Lauren Kolodzinski  ‘21, and Leah Martinez ‘19 all finding the back of the net for the Warriors. The team’s attacking prowess was on display throughout the match, with the Warriors constantly putting pressure on the Tigers’ back line, and their offensive intensity resulted in a big win.

“It was a great senior night, we played so well and this game was important for us going to playoffs,” Anisha Chintala ‘21 said. “I’m so happy that we all came together as a team and played for each other and the seniors.”

The Warriors established the flow of the game early, as the team created numerous scoring opportunities within the first ten minutes of the game, a trend which would carry on for the remainder of the contest. However, in the fourth minute of action, H. Martinez hit a curler from outside the box which was placed perfectly into the bottom right corner of the net, giving the Warriors an early advantage, one that they would hold for the rest of the game. Two minutes later, Aislinn Concannon ‘22 had a good opportunity to double the lead, but her shot was pushed wide left. In the eighth minute, the Warriors again were on the attack after an interception by Grace Toupin ‘20, but Larrea’s attempt was also pushed wide. Later on, in the 15th minute, Kolodzinski converted a one-on-one chance, slotting her shot into the bottom left corner and beating the Stony Point keeper for another goal, increasing the lead to 2-0. Goalkeeper Madi Broadbent ‘21 was called into action for the first time in the game in the 26th minute, having to make a save from a Tigers free kick. Then, three minutes later, Leah Zahm ‘20 had a direct free kick of her own saved.

“I think scoring the early goal really helped us get into the game along with the big crowd there, which really helped. We were able to build up from that first goal from Hailey and just kept producing chances which helped us add more goals which we needed tonight,” Deepti Choudhury ‘21 said.

As the last ten minutes of the half rolled around, Autumn Koch ‘19 and Choudhury anchored another fluid counter attack, but Choudhury’s shot was wide right. In the 34th minute of play, Choudhury had another good opportunity, but Stony Point’s keeper was able to get a hand to her shot. The last scoring chance of the half was taken by Concannon, but her long range strike couldn’t find its way to the net, dragging wide of the goal. All the while, the back line held strong, shutting down the limited number of opportunities the Tigers had. After a dominant first half, the Warriors led the Tigers 2-0.

“We just played our normal 3-5-2 to play a more possession related game,” Colleen Wyrick ‘21 said. “We had plenty behind the ball, so shutting their attack down was natural with the way we were set on the field.”

The Warriors didn’t let up on offense as the whistle blew for the start of the second half; Larrea had another attempt from close range saved, and Andi Peña ‘22 had a cross intercepted near goal. In the 49th minute, the Warriors had a golden opportunity to extend their lead to three goals, but H. Martinez’s penalty attempt was shot over the bar. After the missed penalty, Stony Point began to start applying a bit of offensive pressure, forcing Broadbent to make a few saves to keep the clean sheet. However, in the 61st minute, Larrea finally found the back of the net, tapping in a perfectly placed low cross from Choudhury to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Warriors. The team then had a few more shots denied, including a Christie French ‘19 header that grazed the crossbar before going over. The continued offensive prowess resulted in a fourth goal in the waning moments of the contest, as L. Martinez curled in her shot off the post and into the side netting for the cherry on top in a thorough drubbing of the Warriors’ division rivals.

“I think on the attack we were lively tonight, and our midfielders and defenders were able to get the ball forward and help us create chances,” Choudhury said. “I was super happy with the way we were able to take shots and risks going forward, which ultimately put us ahead and helped us to play our game of keeping the ball, which was really nice.”

The Warriors will close out the regular season when they take on the Cedar Ridge Raiders away from home on Friday, March 15.