BERLIN – It has been a perfect season so far for Glastonbury girls soccer.
The Guardians improved to 19-0-0 and won the Central Connecticut Conference championship with a 1-0 victory over Farmington on Tuesday at Sage Park in Berlin.
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“We had a lot of alumni write letters to the team before the season started, and the culture here is pretty special,” Glastonbury coach Mark Landers said. “We have expectations that we need to live up to, and we have not lived up to them in the last three years. These kids have worked really hard at honoring that culture and that tradition, and respecting it. It is not easy being a Glastonbury soccer player, and we know that. We embrace it and we are going to try and continue to get better.”
After a scoreless first half, senior captain Zoey Giroux scored the lone goal of the game with 23:37 remaining, finding the back of the net on a header off a corner kick by freshman Teagan Gregorski. It was all her team would need.
“It was really frustrating during the first half when they were man-marking us in the midfield and I couldn’t get open,” Giroux said. “We changed a few things, and we knew we have been very successful on corner kicks. When we got that corner, I knew something good was going to happen. I wanted it really bad, I always try to get my head on the ball. It hit the right part of my head and flew in.”
Giroux suffered a wrist injury in the tournament semifinals and was playing with a brace and foam cast on her right arm throughout the game.
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Glastonbury, which had not won the tournament since 2022, was the No. 2 seed this year. The Guardians missed out on the CCC tournament in 2023 and 2024, and were upset in the first round last year by East Catholic in a 5-0 blowout.
“We haven’t been in this situation before, it is something we have always wanted and worked hard to accomplish,” Giroux said. “We haven’t even entered the tournament some years that I have been on the team, so when that final whistle blew my heart was overflowing with happiness. It is an unreal feeling.”
The Guardians won all three tournament games by a score of 1-0, shutting out South Windsor in the quarterfinal and Wethersfield in the semifinal.
“We have been working hard for this every single day, it is pretty special,” Landers said. “It is pretty good when you come in and win three 1-0 games. It is pretty special for us.”
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Glastonbury is ranked No. 5 in the GameTimeCT Power Rankings and will receive a first-round bye in the CIAC Class LL tournament as the No. 3 seed.
Farmington, which was the No. 5 seed in the CCC tournament, upset No. 4 Hall and No. 1 Simsbury to reach the final. It will enter the Class LL tournament as the No. 13 seed and face Southington in the first round.
Player of the Game
Zoey Giroux, Glastonbury: The senior captain scored the only goal of the game on a header off a corner kick in the second half to secure the CCC title. After injuring her wrist in the semifinals, she played with a brace and foam cast.
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Quotable
“The key for us is staying composed, and we really do. No moment is too big for this team and we have faced a lot of adversity in these last three games.” – Glastonbury coach Mark Landers.
Glastonbury 1, Farmington 0
FARMINGTON 0 0-0
GLASTONBURY 0 1-1
Scoring: Glastonbury – Zoey Giroux (Teagan Gregorski), 56:23.
Records: Farmington 13-5-1; Glastonbury 19-0-0.
This article originally published at Unbeaten Glastonbury girls soccer claims CCC title as Zoey Giroux heads home the winner.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
