WILBRAHAM — Thursday marked the eighth regular-season meeting for Wilbraham (B) and Agawam (B) on their respective Pioneer Valley girls soccer summer schedules, but it was clear both teams are still looking to bond.
“We're still learning how to play with each other,” Falcons coach Kelly Pickett said, “Almost half our players are going to be eighth graders, so we've got high school seniors all the way up to freshmen. We've got a lot of different ages that have never met each other. And it's summer, so some people can't come, so it's always an interesting mix during summer league.”
After the game remained scoreless for more than 20 minutes, Taylor Bartosz chased down Brownies goalie Kayleen Sullivan near the 20-yard line. That proved to be the deciding factor as Bartosz smashed the ball into the back of the net to secure Wilbraham's lead. In the final minutes of the game, Stephanie Labadorf cut through the defense and scored on a crossing pass to seal the team's 2-0 victory at Falcon Field.
“It happened so quickly,” Pickett said of the final goal. “All I know is (Labadolph) was right where she was supposed to be for the tap-in at the end. I didn't see who made the pass, but they made a great play. Some of you may not know this, but (Stephanie Labadolph's) twin sister, Kaitlyn, was there with them. And they know what the other guy's going to do, and that's what they've done for us so many times before.”
Wilbraham goalie Bella Germain stopped five of five shots for the shutout win, improving the Falcons to 5-1-2 on the season, while Sullivan stopped seven of nine shots in the loss, lowering the Brownies to 3-4-1 on the season.
Agawam assistant coach Chris Izzo remained optimistic despite the outcome.
“I told the players to be more aware of their surroundings and keep their heads up,” he said. “We were stuck in that position in the midfield and couldn't progress to the next level. If we had kept the ball, we were close to sending it to places where they had a better chance.”
Shortly after Bartosz put Wilbraham ahead midway through the first half, the Brownies were awarded a corner kick, which Viktoria Papova responded with by sprinting down the right sideline and over a packed defense with a perfect spiral pass, and Madalyn Fleury tried to tie it with a header before the football even reached the field.
But the shot went wide right and the score remained at 1 at halftime. As the teams headed to their respective zones, Sullivan approached Browns coach Mike Berthiaume and Izzo to claim responsibility for the goal.
And that altruistic moment did not go unnoticed.
“I think (Coach Sullivan) understood that it was good for the kids to be introspective,” Izzo said. “As a coach, I like it when you don't have to have as many conversations because it shows the kids are learning. And it gives them an opportunity to look at themselves and see what they could have done differently.”
After the first seven minutes of the second half were scoreless, Kaitlyn Labadorf found leadoff star Ainsley Patterson near the left corner, and as the Falcons tried to double their lead low, Sullivan dived in and made her sixth save of the game to keep it close.
The Agawam side regained momentum and Sam Izzo tried to tie the score with a free kick from the 20-yard line, but it wasn't enough as Jermaine made one of three saves in the second half before Stephanie Labadorf added another late point to give Wilbraham the win.
With just three regular season games remaining, Agawam will look to keep its postseason hopes alive by playing East Hampton at home on Friday at 6:30 p.m., while Wilbraham will face Ludlow B at Baird Middle School on the same date and time.
“It's all about scoring,” Chris Izzo said. “I feel like we put too much pressure on the defense. It's about moving the ball forward, telling them to create lanes up front and make through passes. But we still have to move the ball forward to create more chances.”
