Welcome to the tenth 2017 installment of “Set Piece”, the Southington High School Soccer team’s blog spot.
Blue Knight’s on the Pitch: A Look Back and a Look Forward
The Blue Knights started their week with Senior Night and a home match against Northwest Catholic. With all of the seniors in the starting line-up, the Blue Knights looked to continue the momentum of their recent success. Northwest Catholic struck first netting a goal mid-way through the first half for a 1-0 lead. Southington evened the match shortly before the half when Bryce Worth found the back of the net off of a free kick from Cameron Zegzdryn. The first half ended with the game knotted at 1-1. For 39 minutes and 28 seconds, the second half was a back and forth with both teams having chances to score. Just as looked like the Blue Knights where off to yet another overtime game, Colin Burdette scored, the defense held and Southington had a very exciting 2-1 victory.
On Wednesday, the Blue Knights played the make-up game from the previous week against Conard. The home match was played on the very muddy lower grass field. With both teams having chances, the first half ended in a 0-0 tie. Three minutes into the second half, Eli Rodriguez scored to give the Blue Knights a 1-0 lead. Southington played strong team defense for the remainder of the half to secure the 1-0 victory.
With the victory, Southington won their division within the conference. Congratulations!
The Blue Knights ended the regular season with a record of 9-5-2.
Southington will start state championship tournament with an away match against Conard on Monday at 5pm. The Blue Knights had a tie and a win in their two matches this season with division rival Conard. Go BLUE KNIGHTS!
Senior Night
As a parent of a senior, I am going to write this as a first person impression of Senior Night. I had watched the previous three senior nights wondering what it would feel like when it would be our turn to be introduced and walk out on to that field. At first, I viewed it as the first of a number of lasts as Cameron made his way through his senior year, but it quickly became a celebration of not only his accomplishments in his four years of high school, but also a happy reflection of all of the soccer that he has played since he was five years old. I also thought about the entire senior class and how they all had played together for a very long time and how the special bond within this group was formed from the moments that they have shared in hours and hours playing together in practice and in games. Not only do our kids play on the field, but also our families spend a lot of time together in stands cheering for all of the boys. As the entire group stood at the center of the field, it was a nice moment to reflect on what it meant to be part of the Southington Blue Knight Soccer family for the last four years.
Best of luck to our seniors: Colin Burbank, Hayden Burbank, Evan Daddona, Kieran Tindall, Dan Topper and Cameron Zegzdryn