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- Category: Past Issues
NECONN Wins vs. WAM
The NECONN boys’ U11 soccer team traveled to Willington on Sunday to compete against WAM (Willington, Ashford & Mansfield). The boys started will by building a 3-0 lead and then held on for a 3-2 win.
The first half of the game was a very even match-up that saw both teams produce nice passing plays and quality shots on net. NECONN forwards Chris Walker, Elijah Dufour and Max Paro distributed the ball well and gave the team good possession time. Meanwhile, Cal Wilcox, Connor Fillmore and William Liscomb steadied the defense and turned away all WAM bids at the net.
With just over twelve minutes gone on the clock, Jack Liggett gained a step on his defender coming down the left side of the field and was subsequently tripped just outside the box.
David Redfield stepped up to take the direct kick and proceeded to tag a perfect instep into the top, right corner to put NECONN up 1-0. That would be it for the scoring in the first half, despite inspired team soccer by both groups.
In the second half, NECONN dominated the early play. Just a minute into the half, Evan Cunningham took a throw-in just over midfield that found Ryan Black on a run. Ryan drew a crowd and then slid a through ball over to wide open Jack Liggett. Jack redirected the ball into the net for a 2-0 NECONN lead. Six minutes later, nice passing by NECONN through the middle of the field resulted in Tucker Sheehan finding Sam Paul moving to space.
Sam received Tucker’s pass, avoided a WAM defender and then cracked a left-footed shot that the goalie had little chance to save. With the score 3-0 and over twenty-seven minutes of soccer still to be played, WAM refused to give up. They found a second wind and began to dominate play. With twenty-four minutes left on the clock, they got their first goal on just hard work and persistence. Fifteen minutes later, WAM was awarded a direct kick of their own just outside the NECONN box and proceeded to bang home their second goal.
With a little over seven minutes left in the game, both teams picked up the tempo and provided the crowd with some exciting soccer. Despite a number of good scoring chances by both teams, the scored remained 3-2 in favor of NECONN when the final whistle blew. NECONN takes their 1-1 league record on the road again at 4 p.m. May 23 with a match-up with Ellington.