New Canaan Girls U10 Red dominate Darien Blue 6-1

Photo: Fiona Mueller skillfully maneuvers past a Darien defender during Sunday’s 6-1 win.

The New Canaan Girls U10 Red put in a performance as beautiful as the weather this past Sunday afternoon against archrivals Darien Blue. Although the final score might suggest otherwise, this was a tough opponent that started out on the offensive and had the Red on their heels in the early part of the match. First half defenders Maggie Murphy and Lexie Tully had their hands full with an aggressive Darien front line and twice had to chase down players breaking in on net. Goalie Devon Russell was tested early on making a fantastic close range save to keep New Canaan from falling behind.

As has been the case so far this season, when the Red finally go on the offensive they are highly efficient in the opponent’s end of the field. Fiona Mueller was the set-up person for New Canaan’s first strike as she passed to Lila Volpe in the box who launched a gorgeous hard line drive through traffic that proved too much for the goalie to handle. A few minutes later Mueller again got the assist, this time connecting with Ava Pertusiello who weaved through the middle and fired a rocket to the high left of the net. Darien was able to answer with their only goal late in the half to make it 2-1 at the break.

The second half began with a dynamic save by goalie Katie Quill, but her remaining time in net would turn out to be a keeper’s dream as New Canaan dominated up and down the pitch. Coach Alan O’Keeffe has been stressing passing over scoring, and both were fully on display as the Red began a four goal onslaught. First it was Pertusiello who won the ball at midfield and passed to Tully who got past a defender and passed to Tema Wagner. Wagner fought her way into the box and scored on a rocket that ricocheted off the goalie. Moments later Tully once again hit Wagner with a crossing pass in front of the net that positioned her second consecutive goal in the low right corner.

Midfielders Isabel Cavanagh and Charlotte Walter thwarted every attempt Darien made to gain momentum. They effectively shut down several advances, and skillfully delivered the ball back up to their forwards. The Red’s next goal was another masterful sequence as Kathryn Norton connected with Pertusiello who connected with Tully. Tully broke past the defense and drilled a shot to the low right corner for a commanding four goal lead. New Canaan’s final goal started with a charging Kelly Polacek passing several opponents as she streaked down the far left sideline and into the box. Just as two defenders were closing in she deftly passed it up to Wagner who slipped it past the goalie notching an impressive hat trick.

The New Canaan girls U10 Red now stand at 4-0 as they head into the SCOR tournament at Ridgefield this weekend.