The Old Saybrook girls’ soccer team is utiliizing a full team effort and one game at a time mentality this season. As a squad that got a taste of postseason experience a year ago on both the conference and state circuits, the Rams hope to utilize their knowledge and experiences to make an even deeper run this fall.

Head Coach Lauren Zehnder, who attended Old Saybrook High School from 2008-2011 and played on the soccer team, is hoping to keep her team focused and learn from every contest, regardless of a win or a loss.

“Our first game against Cromwell was a positive test to see things we still needed to improve upon. Despite the 2-0 loss, I was happy with starting our season against a strong team like Cromwell,” said Zehnder. “Since that first game, we have been making positive strides towards a winning record. The latter half of our regular season, we will face strong Shoreline and out-of-conference opponents. We focus on each game at a time and make adjustments as needed going into the next.”

In what the Rams hope will be an impressive run to potentially some championship hardware this season, they will be led by four senior captains in Caroline Ancona (outside back), Kylie Lake (goalkeeper), Talia Bauer (outside back), and Breleigh Cooke (striker). Zehnder expects the quartet to work in tandem and project their love for the game onto their teammates.

“They will lead the team with their experience and knowledge of the game,” said Zehnder. “They all emulate positive leadership and play an integral role as leaders on and off the playing field.”

Cooke sees a lot of potential in her teammates to bring their A game on the biggest and smallest of stages throughout the campaign. She believes that if the squad stays focused, the sky is the limit.

“As a captain this year, my main goal is to lead by example both on and off the field, and create a team with a strong sense of unity and collaboration which I’m already able to see throughout the group so far,” said Cooke. “I’m expecting us to make it far in the postseason. We’ve worked extremely hard so far this season to build our chemistry and skills. Ultimately, we aim to make it to the championship, but as of now, it’s about taking it one game at a time.”

Last falll, the Rams finished as the No. 6 seed in the Shoreline Athletic Conference (SLC), falling to Cromwell in the first round of the SLC Tournament by a final score of 6-0. In the Class S State Tournament, the Rams advanced to the quarterfinals as the No. 16 seed, where they ended the season losing to Thomaston 2-1.

As a captain, Lake knows she should never settle for anything less than her team’s best. As a result, she enforced the athletes putting in offseason work to get better, in hopes that it will bring greater successes this fall.

“We’ve put in extensive time and effort since the summer; we have been able to build strength and unity as a team to get where we are now,” said Lake. “I simply see us getting better and more confident as a team in order to see the wins come in the postseason. As a captain, I want to lead by example for my teammates. One of my goals is to keep the team having a positive mindset. I find that when we come out on the field confident, happy, and ready, we tend to play much better.”

With only two seniors graduating last year, Old Saybrook is primed for a successful season due to the experience that returns to the roster.

“This year, we returned with seven seniors, four juniors, and nine sophomores. All returning players this season contribute a vast amount of soccer knowledge and technical ability,” said Zehnder. “Our team is very good at possession, and we strive to continue solid possession throughout the entirety of the regular and postseason.”

As the second half of the season gets underway, the Rams are currently 4-2-1, with wins against East Hampton, Westbrook (6-0), St. Bernard (2-0), and North Branford (8-1). The team’s tie was against Windsor Locks on Sept. 14. The two losses were against Cromwell and Old Lyme (2-1). Even though no team ever wants to lose, Old Saybrook takes each one as a learning experience for the next contest.

“We have had two challenging games that should have ended in different results than we had anticipated. After each game, we reflect on things to focus on and make changes going into the next,” said Zehnder. “Every season, just like life, we will be faced with different challenges. The girls continue to grow as a unit and work through challenges from problem solving techniques they have practiced with assistant coach, Allie Ruel.”

Despite the grind that will come with the next four weeks of the regular season, Zehnder remains hopeful for a long and competitive playoff run.

“I expect and foresee our team to be competitive in both conference and state playoffs. We have a very dedicated and goal driven team,” Zehnder said. “Our goals are to have the best record in Old Saybrook history. We strive to be competitive in the Shoreline and have a far run in the state tournament. Ultimately, the goal is to win Shorelines and the state championship, however, we focus on one game at a time.”

Zehnder is assisted by Allison Bruehwiler and Ruel.

The Rams team roster is comprised of Ancona, Bauer, Cooke, Lake, Marie- Therese Morosky (senior, striker), Fiona McKeown (senior, striker), Ellie Pennington (senior, outside back), Olive Egbert (junior, center midfielder), Alexandra Levasseur (junior, center back), Ashleigh Palmer (junior, striker), Olivia Stone (junior, striker), Grace Bolman (sophomore, center back), Claire Casella (sophomore, outside midfielder), Emily Clifford (sophomore, outside midfielder/back), Arianna Fox (sophomore, center midfieldr), Cilo Lombard (sophomore, striker), Zoe Parakilas (sophomore, striker), Annalise Sarette (sophomore, center midfielder), Ashley Singersmith (sophomore, outside midfielder), and Carmen Vercillo (sophomore, outside back).

Old Saybrook Girls Soccer 2024 Regular Season Results and Schedule

Sept. 6: Cromwell 2, Old Saybrook 0

Sept. 10: Old Saybrook 2, East Hampton 1

Sept. 14: Old Saybrook 0, Windsor 0

Sept. 17: Old Lyme 2, Old Saybrook 1

Sept. 20: Old Saybrook 6, Westbrook 0

Sept. 21: Old Saybrook 2, St. Bernard 0

Sept. 23: Old Saybrook 8, North Branford 1

Sept. 26: Old Saybrook 4, Valley Regional 3

Monday, Sept. 30: vs Haddam Killingworth at 4 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 2: vs Middletown at 4 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 3: vs Portland at 6 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 5: vs Norwich Free Academy (NFA) at 12:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 8: vs Coginchaug at 6 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 10: vs Morgan at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 12: vs East Hampton at 11 a.m.

Thursday, Oct. 17: vs Westbrook at 4 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 18: vs Cromwell at 3:45 p.m.