Cailey Welch scores 3, Izzy Glennon adds 2 for North Shore
North Shore's Cailey Welch passes during a game against South Side at Darcy Field on Sept. 11, 2017. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
North Shore’s Cailey Welch and Izzy Glennon are hungry ― for the back of the net.
Welch scored three goals, while Glennon added two to lead the North Shore Vikings over the South Side Cyclones, 5-0 in a Nassau AB-I girls soccer game on Monday.
The road victory at Darcy Field pushed the Vikings’ record to 2-0 in league play and 4-0 overall.
“They’re so just good together,” coach Lauren Gotta said on the scoring tandem. “Last year was really a learning experience, and this year they’re just clicking. They’re so fast, they’re explosively fast, they’re relentless on the defender and they don’t play games without scoring. They are so goal hungry.”
Gotta added it took Welch, a junior and Glennon, a senior, a while to learn how to play together because of the similarities in the way they play.
In a fast-paced game, the Vikings won many 50-50 battles off the ball in order to maintain control of the game. North Shore began the second half with a 4-0 lead. They would tally a fifth and final goal in the 75th minute. Senior midfielder Selena Fortich, who is committed to the University of Miami notched an assist in the game.
“It felt really great to get the second win of the season and it shows that we are headed in the right direction,” Welch said. “Since moving up to conference one, starting off this strong gives the team the confidence to continue to succeed at a higher level.”
Individually, Welch added that as a player she is more confident than last year, allowing her to take some more shots on goal. As a team, the Vikings have continued to improve on their skills as a unit, allowing them to start off the season strong, she said.
Between the pipes, freshman Giuliana Graziosi made seven saves to record the shutout, her second of the season.
“You let a team like South Side score a goal, it can open the flood gates,” Gotta said. “Our goalkeeper made some good saves.”
The Vikings, who look to build upon a loss in the quarterfinals of last year’s Nassau A-II playoffs, hope that their goal scoring and strong goalkeeping can lead the way this season.
“We’re taking it game by game,” Gotta said. “It’s nice to win, but we’re just focusing on the next game ahead of us. We know that we have to play strong all season long. We need to play like the way we would play in playoffs all season long, that’s important.”
