Conference title, packed scoring punch: Bridgewater-Raynham girls soccer amped for tourney
FALL RIVER — Looking ahead to a fast-approaching roadtrip to the state tournament, the Bridgewater-Raynham girls soccer team needed to prepare itself.
Such a roadtrip is not intended as vacation, rather the destination is a loaded pool Division 1 teams. So, dating back to a 5-0 road win over Barnstable on Sept. 30, the Trojans have packed their suitcases with an unbeaten run of eight consecutive games, a canteen of surging defensive intensity and a mounting heap of Lily Ford goals.
Add in a Southeast Conference title, which B-R clinched by defeating Durfee 3-1 Tuesday evening, and the 12-3-1 Trojans are ready for what lies ahead.
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“We talked at the beginning of the season about building chemistry. I think, depending on the time of year, this is usually the time you get a little bit of a slump but they’ve really picked it up," B-R head coach Tim Kaliff said of the team's 7-0-1 streak. "They did a really nice job.”
In the latest MIAA power rankings, B-R slides in as the No. 35 seed in Division 1 which is headlined by locals Hingham (No. 1), Marshfield (No. 14), Weymouth (No. 23) and Braintree (No. 27). The rankings' top-32, as well as outsiders above .500, qualify for the tournament.
In Tuesday's conference-deciding game against Durfee (11-5-1), which is slotted right below the Trojans in the rankings at No. 36, stingy possession control from the Hilltoppers dictated Durfee's 1-0 halftime advantage.
But midway through the second half, it was time for B-R's trio of captains to deliver.
In the 57th minute, Ford weaved through a logjam of defenders and drilled the Trojans' first goal of the evening. Just four minutes later, she chipped one in from distance, just outside of the box to give B-R a slim, yet pronounced 2-1 lead with 19 minutes to play.
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The senior co-captain Ford has scored or assisted in each of B-R's past 13 games, stacking 20 goals and seven assists in the stretch.
“It’s her patience. Lily is good. She’s an unselfish player, she looks to the play the ball and kind of gets back, you saw her at the end kind of helping out on D too. It’s those types of unselfish players that are really the playmakers in the game,” said Kaliff. “She really plays for the team. She wants the team to be successful.”
Ten minutes after her second goal, Ford stole the ball back in the Durfee end and the team set up for a corner kick after it was briefly poked away. Senior co-captain Brianna Reid delivered a well-placed set-up for junior co-captain Makena Columbus to vault in a header top shelf, just out of the defense's reach. B-R took a commanding 3-1 lead with 8:16 to go.
"That was awesome. It was a beautiful ball from Bri. Before I called that, I said, 'Someone get a body on that' and then I saw Bri put that in and I knew it was coming right to my head," Columbus said. "It's a great feeling."
In the eight-game span, B-R has scored three goals or more in six of them -- the offense put three home in the latter half of Tuesday's win alone.
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“It really came from all of us coming together, working hard, bringing intensity and getting the balls up to us," Ford said. "Everyone was really connecting well in the second half and being able to get that first goal really brought the momentum for the second.”
The B-R defense pitched a second-half shutout in the win, backed by the play of sophomore Isabella Johnson (a reigning SEC All-Star), sophomore Riley Connors, junior Beyoncé Gray, sophomore Zoe Denune and senior Jessica Davis in the back, as well as sophomore Cam Levie, freshman Willow Forbes-Smith, junior Lily Giurleo and sophomore Isabella Fischer in the middle. The activity of sophomore keeper Cori Cahill has also been among the impressive notes for Kaliff this season.
"I’m very fortunate with the defense that we have,” Kaliff said. “They move and work as a unit. And that’s what we try to get the whole team to do. It’s good the defense gets that, moves that way and sets that pattern and tone for the rest of the team.”
The Southeast Conference title win is B-R's first in a couple years -- there was a 'League Cup' in the disjointed 2020 campaign and last year, the Trojans were deemed co-champs alongside Dartmouth.
“That's great. It’s a good thing to go into the tournament with. It gives that sense of motivation that they’re going to need to keep going forward,” Kaliff said of the title.
“These are the types of games you want to prepare you for the postseason," added Kaliff. "Durfee is a very good team, very fast. Those are the types of teams you really want to play."
B-R wraps up the regular season with matchups against East Bridgewater (away) on Friday at 5 p.m. and Nauset (at home) on Oct. 31 at 4:30 p.m.
“It’s a good roll,” said Reid. “We’re coming in strong. I think we’re figuring it out.”
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Lily Ford and company deliver league title to B-R girls soccer team
