WALLINGFORD — Lyman Hall hosted the first Wallingford field hockey rivalry game of the season Thursday, with Sheehan visiting in search of back-to-back wins on back-to-back nights after beating North Haven 24 hours earlier.
The Titans got it, 3-0, with goals by Ava Raffone, Shayla Welch and Mia Levesh, and a third straight shutout by goalie Rilee Reutenauer and the defense, who blanked Southington 1-0 on Saturday.
“It’s a cross-town rival game; I don’t have to say much to get these girls fired up and ready to go,” said Sheehan coach Katie Gill. “Our defense has been locked in these last few days. Erin Villano, Addison Molampy, Finnian Dubuc all work hard for the team on defense and help us to get these wins.”
Sheehan, now 3-1, came out flying on the opening whistle, keeping the ball in the offensive zone for the majority of the first quarter. Just over five minutes in, with 9:39 to go in the opening frame, Raffone connected for the first goal of the game.
The first quarter continued to be all Titans, who made great plays to keep the ball in the offensive zone and maintain pressure on Lyman Hall. Before the quarter was out, Welch scored her goal for a 2-0 lead.
The second quarter saw a new life from Lyman Hall (0-5). The Trojans came out strong on defense, making some big-time stops and creating opportunities for themselves to score.
Even though theTrojans weren’t able to capitalize on these opportunities, things looked like they were starting to click for the home team.
But when the second half then began and the score still reading 2-0, the Titans picked up right where they had left off. Levesh was able to break away and score the third goal of the game, extending their lead to three.
For the rest of the third quarter, it was all things Titans. They played with intensity on the defensive side, not allowing anything to get through to their zone and creating multiple opportunities to score.
After a quarter dominated by the Titans, the Trojans were able to hang in on defense and keep the score 3-0.
The final quarter of play started off strong for the Trojans. They made some key stops on defense and kept the ball off their side of the field.
Throughout this quarter, there was a ton of back-and-forth action and a lot of fight from the Trojans, who looked like a completely new team. The Trojans were starting to put it all together, getting more stops on defense, clearing the ball well and coming up with new opportunities to score.
“This was one of the first games where it really all started to click for us,” said Trojans coach Stephanie Lavado-Berghorn. “We’ve been putting in hours of work that people don’t understand and it looked like it was starting to pay off, and I’m confident that long term we’ll be able to find the back of the net more often.”
Amid a valiant effort by the Trojans, the defensive intensity of Sheehan proved to be too much. Sheehan looks to keep the hot hand rolling on the road at Wethersfield on Tuesday. Lyman Hall hosts Lauralton Hall on Monday.