Soccer News

NORWALK — Westhill sophomore goalkeeper Nathanael Aybar wants nothing more than to prove himself to his coach and teammates.

On Monday night, in a battle of FCIAC boys soccer unbeatens, Aybar won them over in a big way.

The first-year varsity starter turned away seven of 11 shots in the second half, leading Westhill to a 3-2 victory over Norwalk at Testa Field.

“It was actually really crazy in that second half,” Aybar said. “This is my first year starting after I earned the spot, but my defense was really great today.”

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DANBURY — After what he considered a lackluster first half from his team, Danbury boys soccer coach Anthony Howard challenged his team at halftime, urging them to be more aggressive and play more as a cohesive unit.

It did not take long for the Hatters to heed Howard’s advice, breaking the scoreless deadlock by scoring three times in the first 14 minutes of the second half en route to a convincing 5-1 win over rival Ridgefield Monday afternoon.

“I didn’t think it could get any worse because that first half was really, really bad. Sloppy and not ready to play and not up for the game and the first half was not good enough,” Howard said. “I spoke to them at halftime, said what I needed to say and they responded. They are kids and that’s all you want is for them to respond and they came out great in the second half.”

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STAMFORD — Westhill goalkeeper Niamh Keogh made saves in every which way Thursday afternoon, even saving one shot with her face after falling to the ground making another save.

Keogh made 18 saves on the day, many in the second half on point-blank shots which seemed destined for the back of the net as the Westhill girls tied Wilton 0-0.

“I have had some hard games before but probably not like this,” Keogh said. “I am happy with how we played and getting the tie is better than taking a loss. I always feel confident back there.”

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TRUMBULL — Ahead 2-0 at break and 3-0 less than five minutes into the second half, the Trumbull girls soccer team felt pretty good about its chances for taking three points off Darien Tuesday afternoon.

That said, in FCIAC girls soccer few leads are ever all that safe.

And almost on cue, the Blue Wave rallied with a pair of goals barely a minute apart to make the final half hour quite interesting. In the end, Trumbull managed to hold off the Darien comeback and won 3-2.

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