The St. Luke’s girls varsity soccer team clinched the Fairchester Athletic Association (FAA) regular season title on Friday, Oct. 29, with a 2-1 win against Greenwich Academy.
The Storm went into the matchup with a 7-0-1 record, knowing a win or a tie would crown them champions. GVS didn’t disappoint, beating the Gators on the back of two goals from senior striker Caroline Lau.
In a tense affair, St. Luke’s struggled to get its passing game going in the first half but broke the deadlock two minutes before halftime. Lena Olbrys ‘25 found Lau with a perfect through ball that split the Gators defense, and the forward made no mistake beating the goalkeeper with a cool finish into the bottom corner.
The Storm started the second half brightly, making it 2-0 just a few minutes after the interval. Cam Nelson ‘25 pressured the GA defense into a mistake and fed the ball to Lau, who rounded the goalkeeper and slotted home.
Lau almost completed a hat trick with 20 minutes of the game remaining but saw her effort come crashing back off the crossbar.
St. Luke’s had a comfortable lead until the Gators struck with 13 minutes remaining in the game, making it 2-1. The visitors continued to pressure the Storm, but the outstanding back line of Ahsley Barton ‘22, Elli O’Meara ‘22, Aidan Panian ‘23, Natalie Owsley ‘23, and Emma Sherter ‘25 worked tirelessly to prevent any other scoring opportunities.
The victory earned GVS the No. 1 seed for the FAA tournament and home-field advantage. The Storm faces Hamden Hall on Monday, Nov. 8, at 2pm with the semi-finals and finals scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 10, and Friday, Nov. 12.
Head Coach Dan Clarke was delighted with his team’s performance: “I am extremely proud of this group of players. One of the team’s goals was to win the regular season title. They accomplished that without losing a game, which is a tremendous achievement in this league. They battled extremely well to make sure they got the result they needed against a strong and physical GA team.”