B&M FALLS TO MONTROSE IN IGC FINALS, 2-1

The Varsity Girls’ soccer team played in the finals of the IGC Championship last Friday versus The Montrose School. The teams had split the regular season games with Brimmer and May finishing in first place in the League. With a large turnout of raucous Brimmer fans, the team was as fired up as they had ever been. The game began with a flurry as Montrose made some strong runs at the Brimmer net hitting a side post on a shot and missing wide on a breakaway. The Gators regained their composure in the 8th minute when Chardon Brooks ’15 sent a diagonal through ball to Heather Gates ’13 who was sprinting down the right sideline. Heather received the ball, pushed it to the right side of the defender and sent a rocket past the Montrose keeper to put Brimmer up 1-0. The crowd went crazy sensing Brimmer was on its way. Brimmer continued to pressure the Montrose net, but unfortunately were not able to put anything in. With 6 minutes left in the first half, Montrose sent a high ball into the Brimmer 18 which took a tough bounce and ended up in the goal. The first half ended with a score of 1-1.

The second half began with both teams trying to dictate play. Brimmer made some great runs at the Montrose net, and Montrose, in turn, made some strong runs at the Brimmer net. Defensively, Brimmer was holding its own and turning away the toughest of Montrose players and runs. Unfortunately, Brimmer was not able to capture the magic it had from previous games and failed to score by the end of the 2nd half. Montrose was also not able to put the ball in the Brimmer goal. The game then went into two sudden death overtimes, which saw neither team score. Ninety minutes of soccer had been played and neither team had a decided advantage. Brimmer played those 90- minutes as courageously as they had any game this season. Penalty kicks came next to determine the winner. After 6 turns, both teams were still tied, but on the 7th penalty kick, Brimmer unfortunately could not score and Montrose did, which gave them the victory.

The Gators, though visibly upset, knew in their hearts that they were as deserving of that championship as Montrose was. The team is hoping that their 14-2-1 record this season will gain them a birth in the NEPSAC tournament which they will find out about this coming weekend.