Woodland secured the top spot in the NVL tournament with one game to spare.
The Hawks will enter the tournament, which starts Saturday at the higher seeds, as the No. 1 seed courtesy of a 2-1 over Naugatuck on Monday. Woodland (11-2 NVL) is set to end the regular season on Wednesday at Torrington.
“There is not a lot separating the top five teams in the league,” Woodland head coach Cait Witham said. “So we need to be ready to give it everything we have.”
Naugatuck is one of those top five teams.
Naugatuck and Holy Cross are tied for second in the league with identical 9-2-2 records.
Naugatuck was will face Watertown on Wednesday to end the regular season. Watertown is 8-2-3 and tied with St. Paul in the league standings for the fourth and fifth spots. Naugatuck could enter the tournament anywhere from the No. 2 seed to the No. 5 seed, depending on how things play out Wednesday.
“We finish up with Watertown and we need to play with some urgency if we expect to be successful,” Naugatuck head coach Lisa Mariano said. “I’m pleased at where we are at 9-2-2 (in the NVL) but not so pleased at how we have played lately. It’s been an up-and-down effort. We came out sluggish against St. Paul and fell behind 2-0 in the first ten minutes of the game. Then we came storming back at the start of the second half.”
Tournament pairings and game times will be announced later this week. The tourney semifinals are Oct. 30 in Torrington, and the finals are set for Nov. 1 in Seymour.
Woodland is 7-2 on the season against teams that have qualified for the NVL tournament, losing to Holy Cross and Watertown.
“We had a tough loss to Holy Cross last week and that was a bit of a wakeup call,” Witham said. “It gave us a chance to refocus and we came out and had a good win over Masuk.
“They (Holy Cross) are a very physical team. It gave us something to think about heading into the tournament. But I’m proud of the way the girls responded.”
Defense is the name of the game for the Hawks. Goal keeper Alanna Carasone has recorded eight shutouts and allowed just 10 goals in 15 games for Woodland. The defense of Eliza Smith, Michealla Mastropietro, Haley Wolfanger and Olivia Kotsaftis have been a force inside the box.
Haley Andrews, Julia Casimiro, Karly Laliberte, Juliana Villano, Megen Sirowich and Shannon Pruzinsky have all been able to put the ball in the back of the net for the Hawks.
The Greyhounds are 4-2-2 against qualifying teams. Naugatuck defeated Holy Cross and tied Watertown earlier in the season, but are 0-2 against Woodland.
The strong point for the Greyhounds has been defense. Defenders Erin Doris, Bridget Rosikiewicz, Sofia Marques and Catarina Rego have been a steady force out in front of goal keeper Sydney O’Donnell, who has recorded six shutouts and has allowed just 13 goals in 15 games for Greyhounds.
Naugatuck has 12 players who have found the back of the net this season with Alyana Sosa steering the offense.
Hailey Boulanger, Paige Cruz and Angelina Oliveria were injured for a time, and it’s still undetermined if they will be ready to go for the tournament. But the Greyhounds have depth with Alissa McNeil, Mia Rotatori, Abigail Pruchnicki, Makayla Teixeira, Aalyiah Henry, Emma Sonski and Noelle Jacobi.
“Consistency is going to be the deciding factor,” Mariano said. “We need to play a full 80 minutes if we expect to move on in this tournament. There are too many good teams to look past anyone.”
