WMA girls soccer remains undefeated despite tough testNew Page

Oct. 30, 2012


WMA soccer players Christina Wakefield, left, and Carly Cronin. Photo courtesy of Bill Wells

WILBRAHAM — The Wilbraham & Monson Academy (WMA) girls' soccer team knows opponents will be playing extra hard as long as the Titans have a zero in their loss column.

One opponent last week was sure to play extremely hard and threatened to change that sterling record. However, once again this season, the Titans showed they were prepared for the challenged.

After easily handling the Ethel Walker School 6-0 during Homecoming Weekend Oct. 20, WMA traveled to Connecticut and rallied to beat the Pomfret School 3-2 on Oct. 24.

Coach Don Nicholson's group improved to 10-0-2 and continued to state its case to earn the top seed for the upcoming Class B tournament.

"We have something special this year," fullback Molley Shea of Westfield said. "We want to keep it undefeated. We don't want to lose. It's definitely something we think about and want to keep up. We go out every game with a clear mindset that we have to get the job done and that's what we've been doing.

"We definitely have a huge target on our back. Teams want to beat us because we're undefeated. Pomfret wanted to take that away from us. But being together and staying strong as a team, it will take a lot more for a team to beat us. We're having an awesome season. Our attitude is so positive that we think we're going to keep doing what we're doing," she added.

Against Pomfret, the Titans found themselves in a rare position just four minutes into the match: losing. However, WMA rallied with goals from Agawam's Carly Cronin and Shea to take the lead. Pomfret answered with a goal with two minutes to play to knot the score 2-2, but East Longmeadow's Christina Wakefield netted the winner with one minute remaining in the match off a long free kick from Belchertown's Julia Beech.

"We came out a little slow and Pomfret was definitely pressuring us," goalie Brielle Robinson of Monson said. "It was definitely a great team victory and we look forward to the rest of the season."

In the match against Ethel Walker, WMA scored all of its goals in the first half. Wakefield scored twice, and Longmeadow's Brianna Kenney, Ludlow's Stephanie Bramucci, Wilbraham's Meg Harrington and Cronin also scored. Cronin had a pair of assists.

Along with staying undefeated last week, the Titans returned to its full roster. Monson's Molly Moran, Hampden's Riley Marini and Shea all missed time midway through the season due to injury, but all were on the field against Pomfret.

"Everyone is back and healthy, and hopefully it can stay that way and we can remain a strong group," Shea said.

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