Strong defense could help Mercy become SCC title contender

We know about the old adage involving defense and championships. Mercy’s girls soccer team has a pretty good defense in place, but head coach Marcus Harley knows the Tigers need a reliable offense to be a serious postseason threat.

Mercy scored just once against Guilford, but that was all the Tigers needed in a 1-0 win against the Indians. Madison Webster scored the goal in the first half.

“To be able to keep them from scoring is promising to me. These are game at the end of the season that we will have to win,” Harley said. “We are still look for goal scorers, but to be able to keep them out of the back of the net is promising.”

Lindsay Stevenson is the team’s top returning scorer with 13 goals a season ago. Harley is hoping any combination of seniors Olivia Russell, juniors Emma McMurray and Jackie Egidio and sophomore Katie Menard will help balance out the offense.

“They need to try to match (Stevenson),” Harley said. “(Stevenson) needs to score more goals have more patience. We need her to bring it every single game.”

Senior captains Webster and Hannah Stevens anchor a strong defense that has allowed just one goal in its first three games. The Tigers can afford to take some chances on that end of the field because they have Allesandra Fronc as its last line of defense.

A Register All-Area selection last season as a junior, Fronc posted nine shutouts and allowed just 10 goals.

“She probably saved the tie (against Guilford) when she dove and caught one on the ground,” Harley said about Fronc. “She gives the defense confidence. In the event they are beat, Allesandra will be there.”

Since Mercy lost just one starter from last season, it’s understandable that if the team’s collective health remains good, the Tigers believe they can have a very successful postseason.

“So I expect more. We as a team expect more,” Harley said. “We expect we will win the SCC. It’s our league to lose, our trophy to lose, as long as we stay healthy.”

After opening with three home games, Mercy plays seven of its next eight on the road.

Hot start

Weston is scoring goals at a rapid clip in the early going. In its last three games, the Trojans have scored 22 goals.

Weston has dismissed Haddam-Killingworth (6-0), Kolbe Cathedral (9-1) and Bethel (7-0). The Trojans played Pomperaug to a scoreless tie in the opener.

Weston gets to face New Milford (Monday), Barlow (Thursday) and Notre Dame-Fairfield (Sept. 25) to try and continue its hot scoring skid.

Double duty

Joe Perrucci is coaching his final season for the Seymour boys. But he has also taken on another duty in year No. 30.

Perrucci is also the girls coach for the Wildcats. According to the Republican-American, both teams practice together at the high so the veteran coach can oversee both teams with the help of assistant coaches for both.

“It was requested of me to help out with the girls, too, and things worked out that, for my last year, I was able to keep and oversee the boys,” Perrucci told the Republican-American.

The Seymour boys have started out 1-2 while the girls are 2-2. The Republican-American also indicated that both have schedules have been adjusted to have several doubleheaders to help accommodate Perrucci.

The next doubleheader is Friday against Wolcott at home, followed by Torrington on Oct. 9, also at home. Game times are both 4 and 6 p.m. The girls playing first against Wolcott, the boys first against Torrington.