Granby Advances to Class M Semis by Topping Suffield for 3rd Time

Gerry Trieschmann sat alone on a bench wearing a satisfied, if not exhausted, expression just 15 minutes after his second-seeded girls soccer team dispatched No. 10 Suffield 2-1 in a thrilling state Class M quarterfinal match in Granby on Tuesday.

It was the third time this year that the Bears (16-0-1) defeated the Wildcats (14-4-1), the two-time state Class M champions, and Trieschmann was just taking a moment for it to sink in as well as to just relax after a heart-stopping finish that saw Granby’s comfortable 2-0 lead disappear before his eyes.

Trieschmann, who knew he had a great team coming into the season, never imagined the Bears would defeat their North Central Connecticut Conference rivals three straight times, the final one to earn a spot in the Class M semifinals.

“Not in my wildest dreams,” Trieschmann said. “Three times? Come on. That’s a great team. Really well coached.”

Granby followed it’s usual formula to victory: exquisite play up front from Gabby Dixon (two goals) and Caroline Wutka, among others, as well as stifling defense, most notably from goal keeper Ellie McDougall.

After both teams traded chances in the first half, Dixon struck for the game’s first goal in the 35th minute, chipping the ball in off Caroline Wutka’s terrific corner to give Granby a 1-0 lead.

A scintillating second half followed, as both teams traded chances, looking for that elusive goal before Dixon was pulled down in Suffield’s 18 for a penalty that she subsequently buried to give the Bears a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead with 10:26 remaining.

But Suffield is nothing if not resilient, choosing instead to dig in and make a game of it instead of folding.

The end-result was five minutes of the most exciting soccer anyone could have hoped to see.

Suffield’s Brittany Champagne’s gorgeous strike rang the crossbar in the 75th minute, a harbinger of Brianna Bishop’s goal off a feed from Peri Stevens in the 77th minute to make it 2-1.

The Wildcats fought valiantly for the equalizer, but it never materialized.

“Being down 2-0 and to put that kind of pressure in the last five minutes, hitting the crossbar, most high school kids would have given up, and these kids didn’t,” Suffield head coach Kevin Sullivan said.

When the final whistle blew, the exhausted Bears’ players flooded the field in celebration.

While Dixon, deservedly, grabs most of the headlines for her scoring, it’s safe to say that the Bears’ season would likely be over if not the play of McDougall, who combined athletic saves (seven) with brilliant decision making throughout the entire game.

“We have a great secret,” Trieschmann said. “Everyone knows Gabby Dixon; we have Ellie McDougall. She’s one of the best goalies in the state, bar none. I could argue with somebody forever on that one. … She made game-saving saves.”

Indeed, McDougall denied Suffield forward Brianna Bishop twice at point-blank range to keep the game scoreless in the first half.

Not that McDougall relished the thought of facing Suffield for a third time this season.

“Honestly, before the game I was shaking in my cleats,” McDougall said. “It feels absolutely amazing. The saying is it’s hard to beat a team three times. It feels like I’m on top of the world right now. To beat the two time defending champion feels amazing.”

Suffield, for its part, had nothing to be ashamed of.

“Out of the entire year, this is the proudest I’ve ever been of them,” Sullivan said. “They finished their chances and we had plenty of opportunities. Sometimes you play better and you don’t win. It’s just part of the game.”

Granby will face No. 3 Nonnewaug (17-0-2) in a battle of undefeated teams in the semifinals on Nov. 18 or 19 at a site yet to be determined.

“A lot of people counted us out,” Trieschmann said. “Somebody said [in another publication] that we had the toughest road. I told the girls, ‘Every time you step out on to the field, you’ve got to earn the respect.’”