The Vineyard girls varsity soccer team beat Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, 3 – 1 on Friday to advance in the playoffs.
The Vineyarders will take on Norwell on Sunday at 2 pm, off Island, to advance further.
On Friday, Coach Matthew Malowski said the Vineyard and New Bedford were knotted at 0 – 0 at halftime, but some adjustments to the offense provided the “special sauce” needed to break down the opposing defense.
The first goal of the game came from a pass down the right wing to Elena Giordano. Elena beat the last defender, going 1-against-1 with the keeper. The goalie initially made a nice save, but freshman Ava Townes crashed the rebound and netted the Vineyard’s first goal.
The subsequent goals came from nearly the same play, with both passes coming from Talia Maccaferri to Elena, who beat the last defender, again going 1-on-1 with the keeper on the near post, slotting both shots past the keeper to the far post.
Late in the game, New Bedford was able to beat a couple defenders and got a crossing shot that curled over the head of Vineyard goalie, Delilah Oliver.
But Malowksi said that the Vineyard controlled the game very well, and the Vineyard backline did a great job of closing down New Bedford’s top forward.
On Sunday, the coach says they’ll be challenged. Norwell is rated #4. “It will be an extremely tough match for the Vineyard, but the girls will give it everything they have,” Malowski said.
