It isn’t often the losing team departs the playing field to a standing ovation but that’s exactly the scenario the Cardinal girls’ soccer team experienced following its 6-2 loss to rival Berkshire at Richard A. Moss Field in Middlefield on Tuesday.
The Huskies lost the game but they earned the respect of their opponents and fans as they kicked off a new era of Cardinal soccer as the first girls’ team in school history.
“I’ve never been nervous before a game,” said co-head coach Brian Gallagher. “Right after work, my stomach started turning. I was nervous. I get to the field and I look over and see some of the girls from last year and before and I was really nervous.”
With just 11 healthy girls, Gallagher and co-coach Elisabeth Robinson had planned to use the team’s season opener as an additional scrimmage.
That all changed with the anxiety and excitement Gallagher faced during pre-game.
“I wasn’t about to let the team down or myself down,” Gallagher said. “I wanted to play it like a scrimmage but I just couldn’t. You play to win the game and we went out and played hard. We were all nervous but when we scored our first goal it was amazing and the place went nuts.”
Berkshire, which improved to 4-0 with the win, struck early when Alyssa Wolfe scored 11 seconds into the game.
“We gave up a nervous goal,” Gallagher said. “They got the kickoff and just went straight down the field. Our defense bunched up right in the net and they scored. After that, they started settling down and played a little more physical than I think (Berkshire) was anticipating.”
Lexi Boyk made it 2-0 in the ninth minute and Allie Barcikowski pushed the Badgers’ lead to 3-0 midway through the first half.
It was 5-0 early in the second half after goals by Clara Agawa and Barcikowski but then something happened few would have predicted.
Senior defender Mackenzie Conley finished off a corner kick by sophomore Kayla Valentine and the Huskies had their first goal in school history.
“Me and coach Robinson just hugged each other,” Gallagher said. “I’m not going to lie; I had a little tear in my eye. I looked up at the clock and saw there were 19 minutes left. I yelled to the girls and told them we still have time.”
Cardinal wasn’t finished.
The Huskies added another goal when Katie Starr was in the right place at the right time to punch in a loose ball on another corner kick.
“Anna Blubaugh had a lot of shots but they went wide or off the goalie,” Gallagher said. “Kayla took another corner and it bounced off the goalie and Katie Starr did exactly what we were preaching, which is to crash the goal. The ball bounced off the goalie and she put it in the back of the net.”
The Huskies scored both goals with just 10 players on the field and prompted a return of the Berkshire starters.
Berkshire added a Joanne Miller penalty kick to close out the scoring.
Senior goalkeeper Anna Avalon recorded 25 saves in her first varsity action.
“It was amazing,” Avalon said of suiting up for the first girls’ team in Cardinal history. “We’ve worked so hard to get a girls team and I couldn’t be prouder of the way we performed tonight. It’s great to see our hard work pay off.”
Cardinal is right back in action on Wednesday as the Huskies travel to Garfield Heights.
“I told the girls after the game, every game we go to we’re not going to be respected,” Gallagher said. “We’re going to have to earn it. I told them to look at the scoreboard, we’re winners. We played an excellent, hard-fought game. We have a lot to improve on but tomorrow we get our legs back under us and go after that first ‘W.’ Let’s see what happens.”
