The Kendall girls soccer team defeated the fifth, ninth and second ranked teams to win the Section V championship. They then carried that momentum into the New York State tournament and defeated North Collins, previously undefeated and top-ranked Cincinnatus of Section III 2-0 and second ranked in the state Fort Ann of Section II 1-0 in the Class D1 final to win the first state championship in school history.
“We went into this game confident and we really wanted to win, so we’re all really excited,” junior Hailee Mitchell said. “It’s amazing; our community is so supportive and all so happy that we won.”
Mitchell scored both goals in the semi-final win and broke up a 0-0 tie a little more than halfway through the second half of the final.
“I think we definitely came out in the second half and we were a lot more into the game and lot more ready to play,” Mitchell said. “I think the first half we didn’t know what to expect.
“We’ve never been here before and Kendall hasn’t in its history, so that was a lot of pressure on us and it took us a little bit to get out there and play our game.”
Kendall dominated most of the final outshooting the Cardinals 26-4.
“It (the first half) was frustrating and I was getting a little nervous because they came close a few times and we were getting frustrated by all the calls and fouls we were getting,” sophomore Brianna Wakefield said. “We knew we wanted to win so bad that we needed to get our shots in and we finally got one in.”
The Eagles defense and goalkeeper Katherine Pearson registered approximately 190 consecutive minutes of shutout soccer allowing a goal ten minutes into the Section V title game and zero during the three rounds of the state tournament.
“These girls came together at the right time,” Kendall sixth year head coach Pam Barchet said. “We had a slow start to our season (losing three of their first four), so we weren’t really sure what to expect.
“We’re so young with seven freshmen and five sophomores…so no one expected this for our season. Not knowing the seedings played to our advantage.
“I am so overwhelmed and happy for the girls. They worked so hard for this. I was on the team back in ’03 when we made it to the final four and lost and I think that kind of pushed the girls and motivated them a little bit like, let’s show up coach a little bit. We’re all on a high right now; it’s really exciting.”
