Wolcott, Holy Cross deadlock in battle of NVL girls soccer contenders

Holy Cross senior Erin Goggin looks to get the ball away from out of bounds by sending it up
into the air in front of a Wolcott defender. The two NVL contenders wound up in a 1-1 tie.
(Copyright, Sports on CT-69)

The Wolcott and Holy Cross girls soccer teams battled each other on Thursday evening on the turf of Joe Monroe Field in Wolcott.
When it was over, the teams walked off with a 1-1 tie. Both squads figure to be in the conversation for the NVL title.
The Crusaders struck first. Erin Goggin advanced the ball down the left side of the pitch toward the Eagle goal. Goggin could have taken a shot, but she did the unselfish thing and passed in front of the goal to Kiley Harnish. Harnish put the ball in the net and Holy Cross led 1-0 with 22:54 left in the first half.
Wolcott had some chances early on, but couldn’t get a good shot. Holy Cross made its shot count, and the lack of production on the home side frustrated Eagle head coach Chris Riviezzo. On the other side, the Crusaders took shots from too far out for head coach Phil Mongelluzzo’s liking.
Both teams hit the crossbar at one point in the first half and the score remained 1-0 Holy Cross into the halftime break.
When the second half started, Wolcott was a different team. The Eagles surged with energy and attacked on offense. An early shot from Alex Artega on the right side of the goal was deflected and bounced in for the equalizer with 38:52 to play.
Wolcott was back in the match, but it was the last time either team found the back of the net. That’s the way it goes sometimes in soccer, and each team had some what ifs to take away from this early season matchup.
Wolcott is 2-0-1 while Holy Cross is 1-1-1.

PHOTOS: Click here to see images from this evening’s match.