Norwich Tech's upset bid falls short in CTC girls soccer final

The Norwich Tech girls soccer team was one bounce away from ending Windham Tech’s reign as Connecticut Technical Conference champions.

“We had some chances. I thought we were going to get it,” Warriors coach Heidi DeCosta said.

Norwich Tech’s goal, however, never came.

Tigers freshman Emmy Ausburger scored the game-winning goal early in the first overtime, and Windham Tech held off Norwich Tech, 1-0, in a thrilling CTC tournament final Saturday night at Cheney Tech in Manchester. The Tigers captured the league’s championship banner for the fifth consecutive year.

The Warriors, who dropped 3-1 and 4-1 decisions against Windham Tech during the regular season , held the Tigers scoreless for 80 minutes.

“We really played great,” DeCosta said. “This is hard when you fight like that and you don’t bring home the big trophy. That’s the best I’ve seen us play all year. We brought everything we had to this game and gave it a lot of heart.

Windham Tech coach Brandon Strout agreed.

“They’re much improved,” Strout said. “It’s really hard to beat a team multiple times in a row, so they had adjustments made. That’s the best I’ve seen them play.”

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Norwich Tech’s stingy defense was spearheaded by seniors Tessa Lambert, Lilliana Doak, Destiny Burditt and junior goalkeeper Diana Kozerefski. Senior McKenzye Savaria, sophomores Aniyah Gibbons and Maya Stimson and freshman Audrey Desrosier did a terrific job trying to generate offense and attacking up front, while sophomores Lily Kosma and Ituah Ojieyan and freshmen Gracie Hendrick, Milayah Bostick and Eleanor Flores won a number of 50/50 balls at midfield.

“We really came together today,” DeCosta said. “We fought hard. It didn’t go in our favor, but we had some chances. I couldn’t be more proud.”

The game’s only goal came three minutes into the first overtime when Tigers senior Julia Phouangphiarith sent a forward pass and Ausburger, a speedy freshman who has scored 15 goals this season, controlled the ball and hit a left-footed shot towards the far corner.

“They were playing so many back and playing that high line on us and making it real difficult for us to get behind them, so we were able to loft the ball over the top, and she ran down on it,” Strout said. “She’s done such a good job finishing stuff we’ve worked on this season, those one on ones, because she does have good speed and ball control and is able to put the ball on the net. It was a great touch. It was awesome.”

Ausburger’s sister, Ella, is one of the Tigers' senior captains. Ausburger has watched from the stands as the Tigers captured multiple league championships. Now, it was her turn to make her own mark on the dynasty.

“We didn’t have that much energy at the start of the game, but in the second half we started doing better,” Ausburger said. “I’m right footed, but I hit it with my left, which I’m so bad with. I was on the left side, and it was just there.”

The Tigers (16-2) thought they had an early goal in the fifth minute, but the referees ruled that Kozerefski had possession of the ball when it was knocked from her hands.

“Those are tough to recover from sometimes,” Strout said. “You get a big up, and then you have to reset.”

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Norwich Tech (13-5) will be one of the top seeds in the upcoming Class M state tournament.

“It hurts right now, but they're going to look back and really be proud of how they played today and to get here,” DeCosta said. “The experience of being here for our young players is great.”

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Norwich Tech's upset bid falls short in CTC girls soccer final