Staples Wins Second Straight Girls Soccer Title, Outright This Time

HARTFORD, CT — After settling for Class LL co-champion status with Wilton last year, the 13 seniors on the Staples High School girls soccer sought to earn an outright title this year. On Sunday, they accomplished just that, but mainly due to the production of a pair of underclassmen.

Annabel Edwards netted three second-half goals to break open a 1-0 contest at intermission, leading the third-seeded Wreckers to a 4-1 win over top-ranked Cheshire at Trinity Health Stadium.

Freshman Natalie Chudowsky was first to dent the scoreboard near the midpoint of the first half, making a nifty move in front of the Cheshire goal and booting a left-footed shot into the lower right corner of the net.

After halftime, Staples struck twice, and quickly, as sophomore Annabel Edwards netted a pair of tallies two minutes apart in the first six minutes of the session. She completed her hat trick just over 10 minutes into the second half, and was voted the most valuable player of the finals by game officials.

Abby Sink, another freshman, scored the lone Cheshire goal with just under 10 minutes remaining in the contest.

Staples evened its record in championship games to 3-3, having won its first title in 1989. Cheshire had also been seeking its third state crown, but first since 2005.