By Anthony Parelli
Mary Louis couldn’t capitalize on a quick start.
Six minutes into the game, star senior Therese Boyle scored six minutes into the game from close range, but that was all the Hilltoppers could muster. They had to settle for a 1-1 tie with Cardinal Spellman in a CHSAA Intersectional girls’ soccer game at Joseph Austin Playground last Friday.
“We need to finish better,” TMLA Coach Tom Bruen said. “We need to anticipate a little bit better and our composure needs to come up a little bit.”
Mary Louis (0-1-2) was able to maintain offensive pressure on the Pilots after Boyle’s goal. Forwards Colette Craig and Nalae Crossland were able to get deep into Spellman territory, but didn’t record another goal to show for it.
Spellman sophomore Emma Carrillo tied the score at 1-1 in the 58th minute with a 30-yard strike from the center of the pitch. The Pilots’ defense held strong to keep the game deadlocked despite the best efforts of TMLA midfielder Rachel Spampinato. She facilitated the offensive effort, but her pinpoint passes weren’t enough to give her team another score.
“She’s just a monster, she’s a great player in the middle,” Bruen said.
Even Spampinato knows the team must do more to earn a victory.
“We moved together as a unit rather well, but I think our touches can get better,” she said. “We’re going to work hard in practice and I’m positive we’ll be better next week.”
Mary Louis pressured and played hard all afternoon but couldn’t overcome a tough Spellman defense.
“I think we have to move the ball better and be faster,” Spampinato said. “I think today our heads were there, just not necessarily our feet.”
This is the first season of intersectional play between teams from Brooklyn/Queens and Bronx/Westchester. It was a chance for the Hilltoppers, the Brooklyn/Queens runner-up the last two seasons, to test themselves against new opponents. Bruen loves the idea.
“I want as many of them as we can positively get,” Bruen said. “It helps you get better. When you get these intersectionals, you just don’t know what you’re getting. It’s phenomenal. I’ll play any team that wanted to.”
Spampinato agrees that the new challenges benefit everyone instead of playing the same few teams.
“I think it’s good to get our names out there,” Spampinato said. “It gives us a chance to practice different tactics against different teams.”
