South Burlington's Mollie Gribbin (above) scored twice as the Rebels topped Colchester 9-3.
Last year’s D-I state finalists, two 4-0 teams, a future Division I Boston College scholarship player.
There were plenty of reasons for interest in Tuesday’s girls soccer game between South Burlington and Colchester, but Rebels head coach Tom Schaefer tried to keep his team grounded leading up to the game.
“I told the girls we’re just going to play,” said Schaefer. “I said ‘If we play and do the little things we’ve been working on, we’ll be successful.’ We didn’t do anything special.”
The preparation may not have been special, but the results were noticeable.
| 1 | 2 | Final | |
| Colchester | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| South Burlington | 3 | 6 | 9 |
The defending Division I state champions in girls soccer put up their largest scoring output of the season, beating Colchester 9-3. Seven different players scored goals for the Rebels in the lopsided win.
“Am I happy with this performance? Yeah you better believe it.” said Schaefer.
Shannon Flaherty gave the Rebels an early 1-0 lead but Colchester went up 2-1 midway through the first half on two goals from senior Lauren Bernard.
In the waning minutes of the first half though, the speed of South Burlington shined as the Rebels scored twice in 75 seconds to take a 3-2 lead into halftime.
South Burlington came up shooting even more in the second half. Mollie Gribbin scored twice for the Rebels in a three minute span that stretched the Rebel lead to 5-2.
“We switched a little something at halftime and were able to stretch their outside backs,” said Gribbin. “We talked about passing a little ahead and shooting on net to try and score—and we did that. It was a huge team effort and we all couldn’t be prouder of each.”
Junior Sarah Shiman finished with two goals and two assists for South Burlington. Kayla Gilding, Madison Schaefer, Lindsay Geier, and Ashley Norris also scored for the Rebels.
The high goal total for South Burlington made a statement for a team that was a 10-seed in last year’s playoffs but is on everybody’s radar this season, alongside Colchester.
“We felt some pressure going into the game,” said Gribbin. “We knew everyone would be reading the score the next day.”
Bernard’s hat trick accounted for all three Colchester (4-1) goals. The senior is commited to attend Boston College on a full scholarship after graduation. The three goals scored by the Lakers were the most South Burlington has allowed in their five games.
Annellie Miller finished with three saves for South Burlington. Colchester’s sophomore goalie Haley Forkey had nine saves.
South Burlington travels to Burlington on Friday while Colchester as at Essex Friday night.
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- Last year’s finalists, South Burlington and Colchester, will look to return to the D-I high school girls soccer final
