SWHS varsity girls' soccer trounces Hall on path to finals

Danielle Karpiej fights for the ball with a player from Hall before kicking the first goal of the game. Behind her, Christine Allard and Amy McConnell wait watchfully. Photos by Christian Mysliwiec.

The South Windsor High School girls' varsity soccer team faced William Hall High School of West Hartford during the second round of the Class LL tournament at home on Monday, Nov. 12. The game was a shutout, with South Windsor winning 3-0.

The first goal was made by sophomore Danielle Karpiej in the first half. Hall's goalie originally deflected the shot before fumbling the ball, which rolled into the goal. Sophomore Amy McConnell made the second goal of the game, as well as the third - which was the only goal of the second half.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said head coach Ed Duclos the day after the game. “Hall, even though they were seeded 14th, they came in strong. They were the only team to tie Northwest Catholic this season, and that was late in the year. That's outstanding because nobody usually gets close to Northwest Catholic.”

For Duclos, the second-round victory is a continuation of what he calls an outstanding year. “We were 14-2 in the regular season, this brings it to 15-2,” said Duclos the day after the game. “The combination of  really successful offense and really strong defense – we've given up seven goals throughout the entire season – has been absolutely amazing.”

Duclos is impressed with the senior leadership on the team, and is pleased to see inexperienced players coming in from junior varsity integrating with the experienced players.

The team is preparing to face Newtown at home on Wednesday, Nov. 14, for the quarterfinal game. The winner will go to the semifinal game against the winner of the Middletown-New Milford quarterfinal game, also on Wednesday.

Currently, South Windsor ranks third in the LL rankings, behind Middletown and the class leader, Glastonbury. Nevertheless, Duclos has the final in sight. “We're playing extremely well right now. You always want to peak at this time in the season,” he said. “Right now, we're starting to peak, so we like our chances.”