By Sarah Brunskill, Kate Zu, and Gaby Lops
Williamsville East’s Girls’ JV soccer team was on fire this year, with a record of 13-1-1.
We kicked off the season with a big win against rival Williamsville South 7-1. In game two, we kept our winning streak, beating Hamburg 6-1, with our midfielders controlling the game making plays and moving the ball up and down the field. Our first and only tie came against Victor 1-1, one of our closest games. We went into overtime twice. Then we returned with a win against Amherst on home field, beating the Tigers 5-0. Elizabeth Crawford scored 2 goals against Amherst.
The next day we suffered our only loss in a close game against Niagara Wheatfield, 1-2, with our co-captain, Kate Zu scoring our only goal. Determined to have no more losses, the team held strong against Starpoint, West Seneca East, and Orchard Park, keeping the score above 4 in each game. Next was a home game against Williamsville South, which we won 6-0. Keeping it lit, the team defeated Hamburg 3-0. The flames crushed the Tigers again by beating Amherst 7-0, with Sarah Brunskill scoring 2 goals. Our team played West Seneca East for our last away game, leaving the field with a score of 7-2 with Gianna Tuzzolino scoring off of a header straight to the back of the net. At another home game, we beat Starpoint 4-0. Then we played North Tonawanda, winning a close game 2-0, both goals scored in the last 10 minutes by Elizabeth Crawford and Gianna Tuzzolino (an eighth grader). Our final game of 2019 finished off the season against Kenmore East, leaving the field with the score 5-0.
The team finished off the season with a total of 67 goals. Our top goal scorers were Gianna Tuzzolino with 18 goals and Kate Zu with 11. Emily Woolingham gave the most assists with 9 assists, Gianna with 8, and Kate Zu with 7. Kelly Carver, one our goalies, had 84 shots and saved 79. Chloe Overhoff had 40 and 38 saved, and Bella Nestico had 27 shots and 26 saves. The team only let in 8 goals throughout the season and scored 67 goals. Claire Woolingham had almost 70 takeaways, Payton Roland, the other co-captain, had 47, and Elizabeth Crawford had 40. The team altogether had almost 600 takeaways. Overall, it was a great season and the team can’t wait for next season.
