The St. Joseph girls soccer team may still not have lost a game since the 2012 season, but Wilton came close to ending the run on Tuesday at Kristine Lilly Field.
Hannah Maatallah’s second goal of the game with 8:10 left to play gave Wilton a 2-1 lead before St. Joseph got the equalizer with 3:29 remaining, as the teams played to a 2-2 tie. The Cadets’ Leah Lewis launched a long shot over the out-stretched arms of Warrior goalie Hanna Previte to keep the visitors unbeaten at 7-0-1.
The Cadets ended last season 22-0-1, with the only blemish coming in a tie against Wilton during the regular season. St. Joseph then defeated Wilton in the conference finals before going on to win the Class LL state championship.
Yet Wilton (3-1-3) clearly out-played the Cadets on Tuesday, winning the possession war but not being able to seal the deal. Annika Sheehan raced down the wing several times in the contest, using her speed to bypass St. Joseph players and turn the corner, but the Cadets’ backline and goalie held strong to deny her attempts.
The Cadets got on the board in the 20th minute of the game on a goal by Lindsay Savko. The Wilton defense got caught flat-footed and allowed Savko to go one-on-one with Previte and score.
The Warriors kept the pressure on and finally broke through in the 36th minute to tie the game at 1-1. Melissa Luse’s pass found Maatallah open in the middle of the field about 25 yards out. Maatallah had time to settle the ball, compose herself, and then loft a shot over the Cadets’ goalie and into the net.
The score remained tied until Maatallah’s second goal of the game in the 72nd minute. Haley English launched a perfect corner kick right in front of the net. The ball bounced around for a second and Maatallah put it past the keeper.
But the Cadets were able to avoid their first loss since the 2012 state finals when Lewis scored in the final four minutes.