Submitted by Mike Shea, Coach
HKHS Girls Soccer Takes Loss In Opener
The two time defending Shoreline Conference Champion Haddam Killingworth High School Girls Soccer team lost their home opener of the season on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021 to conference rivals Portland by a score of 3-1. The team lost nine players from the previous season. Team captains this year are Hadley Commerford, Yumi Imai and Leah Sosnoski.
The Cougars opened up scoring right away, in the first 28 seconds when Leah Chester made a nice cross to Hadley Commerford for the goal. Some miscommunication allowed Portland to come right back two minutes later to score their first goal. In goal for HK was Brianna Nugent who made six quality saves for the team. HK was not able to holdoff Portland and succeeded two more goals.
The second half proved to be more promising. Possession went to the cougars in the second half, which provided the Cougars with a positive takeaway heading into the season.
HKHS Girls Soccer Strikes Back With First Win (5-0)
After leaving the field after 7:00 p.m. the previous night playing Portland, the HKHS girls were back facing Parish Hill with an 11:00 a.m. kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.
Rhianna Phipps was in goal for the Cougars and had three saves for the team. HK dominated time of possession in this game, picking up from where they left off in their previous game. Hadley Commerford also picked up where she left off by scoring the opening goal for her team. The defensive line of Leah Sosnoski, Caroline Conte and Jordan Duncanson helped the Tigers with the team’s possession, along with midfielders Mariella Fulcher and Laina Goodison. Yumi Imai helped set up the second goal with a nice feed to Emmy Kehlenbach. Sammy Ruimerman scored her first two goals of the season, being assisted my Maggie Singer. The final goal was an own goal by Parish Hill, but the force this goal came from Leah Chester. The Cougars walked away with their first shut out of the season. They take their 1-1 record to face Old Saybrook this Tuesday in their first away match-up.
HKHS Girls Soccer Takes Win versus Old Saybrook 
The Cougars played in a highly competitive matchup against Old Saybrook on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2021 and were able to get the win by a score of 1-0. HK was very strong defensively and led by Leah Sosnoski, Sierra Hajek, Mariella Fulcher and Caroline Conte. The consistent build up of play was what allowed HK to put 14 shots on goal. A beautiful feed by Hadley Commerford to Yumi Imai was all that was needed to secure the victory. Sophia Torello did a great job in goal, making three saves but also very strong in her communication from the back. HK is now 2-1 on the season.
