The Connecticut College Women’s soccer team did what no team has ever done at Connecticut College: They are the first team in school history to win a NESCAC Championship. Their historic playoff run started with a never before seen regular season in which the Camels won thirteen games and only lost two. Their conference record of eight and two earned them a home playoff game against Trinity College as the third seed. The Camels cruised past Trinity for a three to nothing win.
The Camels jumped on the bus later that week and headed to Williams College, where the Women’s Soccer NESCAC Championship was being hosted, to play the Bowdoin Polar Bears in the semifinals. The girls had lost to Bowdoin earlier in the year three to one, in a game in which they were dominated. The memory of that loss certainly fueled the Camels early start, which led to a goal by sophomore Annie Higgins just seven minutes into the game. The Camels then hung on to win the game thanks to one of the best defenses in the country, anchored by center backs Cathy Higgins ’17 and Morgan Cowie-Haskell ’16, along with their goalie Bryanna Montalvo ’17.
The championship game was played the next day against number one seeded Williams College. The Camels had lost to Williams three to nothing at Connecticut College earlier in the year, and now had to face the Purple Cows on their own field for the NESCAC Championship game.
The Camels did what they had done all year long against their opponents. They played great defense and they took advantage of their offensive opportunities. The Camels took the lead in the first half off of a well-placed free kick by senior Rebecca Raymond. From thirty-five yards out Raymond struck the ball on goal that looked to dip just under the Williams goalie’s crossbar, but the goalie was able to get her hand on it, tipping the ball onto the crossbar. It ricocheted back into play, falling perfectly for first-year Alexa Tribelli to bury it into the back of the net. After the goal Williams looked completely shocked for the rest of the first half, while the Camels couldn’t have been more fired up.
The second half was a completely different story. The Camels did their best to weather the storm that was Williams, and goalie Montalvo shined during the barrage. Montalvo made save after save, 12 total in the game, and cut off several different through balls and dangerous crosses that certainly would have been goals. With four minutes left in the game it seemed as if the Camels were going to win their first ever NESCAC Championship, but it was going to take some extra soccer before the Camels could walk away with the win. Williams scored a goal with three minutes and nineteen seconds remaining in the game, absolutely shocking the Camels, to force the game into overtime. As a spectator in the crowd it felt as if it wasn’t meant to be for the Camels, who had played so hard and so well the entire game against one of the best teams in the country.
In overtime both teams had good chances, but the Camels couldn’t seem to find the net. Thankfully Montalvo held strong in the net during overtime, and after a nail biting extra twenty minutes of play in which neither team scored, the game went into penalty kicks.
The Camels made a move in penalty kicks that surprised most fans when they took Montalvo out of the goal and instead put Amanda Onofrio ’16 in to try and stop the shooters for Williams. Onofrio then went and surprised everyone at the game when she stopped the penalty kick she faced. The crowd cheering on the Camels went absolutely wild. After the save by Onofio, Annie Higgins calmly buried her shot into the back of the net, and the Camels went up one to nothing. It was then up to Onofrio again to make a save.
And that is exactly what she did.
She was so excited after the save, and threw the ball into the air screaming, which earned her an earful from the ref, and a chuckle from the fans and even Onofrio herself, who seemed to be having the time of her life.
The next shooter for the Camels sailed her shot over the crossbar, and the score remained one to nothing in favor of the Camels. The next three shooters for Williams all put their shots in the back of the net, while the Camels only converted on two out of their three attempts, leaving the score tied up at three to three.
As if she hadn’t done enough in the game already, Onofrio took the Camels final shot, and buried the ball in the back of the net, and instead of running back to celebrate with her teammates Onofrio just walked into the goal to face the final Williams kicker. It was so quiet that as the Williams player approached the ball, it seemed as if the birds in the woods and all the pets at the game stopped to watch the action. Once again, Onofrio made the save, and the Camels rushed the field and piled on top of each other, celebrating the teams and the schools first ever NESCAC Championship. The Camels found a way to win the game, which is what they had done all year.
During the rally back at the athletic center at Connecticut College later that night coach Norm Riker spoke to the fans and simply said, “Thank you so much for all your support this year. When one camel wins we all win.” It certainly did feel that way that night for all of Connecticut College.
Not only did the team win the NESCAC tournament, but they swept the NESCAC women’s soccer awards as well. Coach Norm Riker won coach of the year, senior midfielder Astrid Kampainen won player of the year, Michelle Medina won rookie of the year, and Bryanna Montalvo won player of the week. It seemed as if the Camels could do no wrong.
The season wasn’t over for the Camels though, because they earned an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, where they would face Swarthmore College at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Interestingly enough, Swarthmore had a similar road to the NCAA tournament as Conn: they defeated in penalty kicks Johns Hopkins University, the number one seed and most winning team of all time from their conference. Conn won this game too, three to one, in what was a very close game. Livi Block and Michelle Medina both scored in the final seven minutes of the game, adding yet another win to the teams record, and moving the Camels into the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Sadly, the women’s soccer teams incredible run came to an end in the second overtime of the second round game of the tournament. The Camels fought hard and almost forced the game into penalty kicks, but their opponents Montclair State were just too much to handle in the end. The Camels ended their season with a program record sixteen wins, and celebrated being the first Connecticut College team to bring home a NESCAC Championship. So, if you see the girls of the COCOWOSO team, make sure to congratulate them on all their success this year. When one Camel wins, we all win. •
