New Canaan Girls U13 Red are A/B Division SWD District soccer champions! New Canaan defeated the Norwalk NJSA Jaguars 8 nil on Saturday to advance to Sunday's championship game where they beat rival Wilton 3 nil to win the District crown. The girls had a remarkable season, finishing 7 - 0 - 1 with a league leading 30 goals scored to four goals against differential. The game against Norwalk was never in doubt. Freia Mierendorf opened the scoring ten minutes into the game, the first of her three goal "hat trick" afternoon and New Canaan took a 3 nil lead into halftime. Kendall Curtin and Kelly Conheeney's stellar goal tending, coupled with the league leading defense anchored by Eliza Farley, Zoe Jones, Nicole LaBadie, and Leigh Charlton, kept a handful of Norwalk tries off the scoreboard. In addition to Mierendorf's hat trick, New Canaan goals were scored by Braeden Dial, Reilly Krug, Kendall Curtin, Katherine Reiss, and Jackie Newlin.
In Sunday's Championship game, the defense and goal tenders played to reputation, denying Wilton on several tries and allowing no goals. With an impenetrable wall of defensive granite behind them, New Canaan's offense went to work, applying relentless pressure during the first half. Taking a beautiful touch pass from Molly Mazabras to the left side, Eliza Pohle scored New Canaan's first goal on a shot from just outside the 18 yard penalty box stripe, driving the ball just under the cross bar and over the outstretched hands of the Wilton goal tender. The half ended with New Canaan holding a 1 nil lead. In the second half, New Canaan extended its lead to 2 nil in truly dramatic fashion when Reilly Krug sent a ball across the middle which Katherine Reiss headed with perfect technique into the center of net. With less than ten minutes remaining, Pohle scored for the second time on a volley to the left post, set up by a pass from Mierendorf. From that point forward the defense gave no ground, preserving the second shut out of the weekend and icing New Canaan's standing as District Champions. The girls earned their trophy through a season of hard work, commitment to fundamentals, and spirited team play. Congratulations girls !!
