Bears Clinch 1st NCCC Title Since 1988 With 1-0 Win Over Suffield

The Granby Memorial High girls soccer team on Friday afternoon clinched its first North Central Connecticut Conference title since 1988 with a 1-0 victory over Suffield High in Granby.

The Bears’ victory meant a passing of the torch, at least for one season, in the NCCC, as Suffield had either won or shared the conference crown the previous five, and six out of the last seven, years.

Granby’s Gabby Dixon bagged the game's only goal in the 59th minute, when she created space on a 50/50 ball about 10 yards outside the box, took possession down the left side and fired across field just inside the right post, beating a diving Gabby Arruda, Suffield’s keeper.

And while Dixon may have gotten away with a slight push on her defender, her finish was both clinical and lethal - a classic case of a great player making a great play at a key moment in the game.

“That’s who she is,” Bears head coach Gerry Trieschmann said. “She’s just that type of player. She’s a complete player. … I talked to her at half, I talked to the team and said to her, ‘You’ve got to be more selfish.’ Because she’s a complete player and she wants to give the ball off and there’s times where she just has to say, ‘Hey, let’s do this myself.’”

And while Dixon was responsible for the scoring strike, the Bears back line, including Kailyn Schiffmacher, deserves equal credit for keeping a shorthanded, but still very good, Suffield side off the board. Granby goalkeeper Ellie McDougall was called on to make just one save to earn the team’s 10th - and fourth consecutive - clean sheet.

“We play a little bit different than everybody else, because we play three back,” Trieschmann said. “They have a few weaknesses, but they’re just so smart. They don’t make that many mistakes, they limit them. They’re going to be aggressive at it. It’s a nice game to watch.”

Suffield head coach Dave Sullivan, for his part, was less concerned with the loss than he was about the psychological impact it would have on a young squad - the Wildcats’ starting lineup featured seven freshmen and sophomores - trying to shoulder the weight of expectations that have come from winning five straight NCCC titles and consecutive state Class M crowns.

Indeed, Sullivan said that his team, which was without star sweeper Jillian Consolini and starter Merideth Ouellette, still went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the state. Dixon, according to Sullivan, represented the secret sauce, however.

“We put the effort in, but the difference is we didn’t have the person stepping up,” said Sullivan, noting that Gabby Dixon was the difference maker. “Not to put down our freshmen and sophomores, but that’s what this team is lacking. ... I just don’t have that person and they don’t have the confidence in themselves to take this on and score like Gabby does. … I had two freshmen finishing as center mid-fielders and we still were competing with one of the best teams in the state.”

Suffield’s Michele D’Agata, normally a forward, did a tremendous job as the team’s sweeper in marking Dixon for nearly the entire game.

Still, Dixon got that one goal, which was good enough for the victory, which was particularly sweet for the Bears (14-0-1), who had already defeated the Wildcats (11-3-1) 2-1 in their previous meeting on Oct. 5.

“This was huge for them,” Trieschmann said. “Yesterday’s practice was indoors. I could hear the whispering and the talking. You could sense that we have to beat them again. … It’s a respect factor and I told them, 'This is where you are going to get the respect.'”

So now the banner that was last updated in 1988 (putting that in perspective, Ronald Reagan was still president) will have a new addition at the end of this dream season that has included the team's first victory over Avon since 1999.

“It’s really amazing,” DIxon said. “It’s the oldest looking banner out there. Field hockey has got a ton. We just really wanted this game. Last time, some people were saying it was kind of a fluke that we won against Suffield. We wanted to beat them again and show them it wasn’t a fluke.”

Suffield concludes its regular season at home under the lights against Enfield this Tuesday at 7 p.m., while Granby finishes the regular season against SMSA at home on Tuesday at 3:45 p.m.