Ludlowe, Warde battle to 1-1 draw

Written by Mike Suppe, Assistant Sports Editor
Thursday, 22 October 2009 12:17

The latest edition of the rivalry between the Fairfield Ludlowe and Fairfield Warde girls soccer teams was one for the record books when the teams met on Oct. 15.

In a driving snow storm that shifted to bitterly-cold rain, the Falcons and the Mustangs battled to a 1-1 draw at Tetreau/Davis Field in an FCIAC showdown.

“It’s never pretty to walk away with a tie but a game like this, for the most part, you’re holding your breath to see what happens,” Ludlowe coach Tony Samuelian said.

“The conditions were absolutely atrocious. It’s a wonder these kids played as well as they as they did.

“If it wasn’t for the adrenaline of the rivalry, forgot it.”

Warde senior Sarah Duffy staked the Mustangs to a 1-0 lead with one minute left in the first half, pouncing on a deflected ball on the right side and beating Falcon keeper Blakely Zecher.

Ludlowe (6-3-2) wasted little time netting the equalizer in the second half, when Falcon freshman Katie Coyle fired a shot past Mustang keeper Ali Rocchi to tie the match at 1.

That scoreline held the rest of the way.

“We’re disappointed,” Warde coach Tom Cunningham said. “We really wanted the ‘W’ out of this one.”

Rocchi almost single-handely preserved the tie for Warde, stopping Chrissy Lozier’s blast from just outside of the six-yard box with 15:35.

Caroline Lutz took a pair of free kicks late for the Mustangs, but her lobs into the penalty area failed to find feet.

“The girls were ready for the game,” Cunningham said. “You get Warde-Ludlowe, they’re going to be ready to play.”

At the start of the first half, Lutz and Lozier exchanged scoring chances as snow continued to sprinkle the pitch.

Ludlowe’s Catherine Rooney stole the ball in the midfield and lashed a shot that hit the side of the Mustang net, as neither team looked affected by the inclement weather.

“Everyone was cold, it leveled the playing field,” Rocchi said.

Warde (5-3-4) started to apply the pressure midway through the first half, with Maggie Allen dragging a rebound attempt wide.

“It was hard for us to develop midfield play,” Samuelian said. “We knew we were in for a battle.”

Duffy pushed a shot wide with five minutes left before the break, but broke through minutes later with the game’s first goal.

“I saw an opportunity and took it,” Duffy said.

Halftime came at an inopportune time for the Mustangs, but Ludlowe came flying out of the gates in the second half and leveled at 35:36.

“They picked it up in the second half,” Cunningham said. “Halftime slowed us down a little bit.”

Coyle’s marker knotted the game at 1 and set up a tense final half-hour, with neither team budging.

“That was a nice goal from our freshman,” Samuelian said of Coyle. “Katie’s a player. She’s someone you’re going to hear about in the future.”

Neither side pushed across another goal, as the final horn sounded with the game deadlocked.

Warde travels to Stamford to take on Westhill (10-1) on Monday afternoon at 4.

Ludlowe hosts Trumbull (4-5-3) at Emil Taft Field on Friday afternoon at 4.