In the final home game of 2019, Taft played two very different halves and, in the end, earned a 4-1 victory to send our seniors out winners from KJM. The Rhinos righted the lack of true passion at halftime and scored four unanswered goals in a half where they dominated possession and scoring opportunities to win 4-1. Despite holding a 0-1 deficit at halftime, Taft held the far better of the play with 12 shots compared to 4 for Kingswood. The only thing that matters, though, is the result on the scoreboard and Taft found themselves down to their visitors. Halftime woke the Rhinos up a bit and the renewed energy and focus in the second half some a complete turnaround for the Big Red. Taft put another 13 shots towards KO compared to just 1. They clamped down defensively led by seniors Piper Desorcie ’20 and Kristina Cornelio ’20 and also by Patience Kum ’21, Alex Preziotti ’21, Angelica Megdanis ’23, Hannah Travelstead ’23, and Kate Vermylen ’21. The midfield worked the ball deftly through the different layers of the Taft offense and clamped down on the defensive end. This group was led by a trio of starting center midfielders Co-Captain Elly MacKay ‘20, Co-Captain Kayla Thomas ’20, and Kyra McNerney ’20 and also Amanda Graziano ’21, Taylor Adduci ’22, and Paton Roberts ’21. The wingers exploited a lot of space on the sidelines and Taft put in cross after cross. The groupings of Roberts, Caroline Messer ’22, Susanna Adams ’22, Sam Ouellette ’21, and led by senior Halle Wagner ’20 were tremendous on the day. Strikers Graziano, Adams, and Precious Novidzro ’23 found gaps and creases well. Down 0-1, Taft redoubled it’s emotional investment and attacked with passion. After a season of near misses, it would be a senior who started every game this season to spark the offensive outburst in the second half. Roberts would receive a ball from the middle, beat her defender to the touch line, and cross in a perfect ball to the back post. Wagner streaked in, beat her defenders, and headed home an equalizer for her first goal of the season. The goal was celebrated both for what it meant in the game, a tie, but also to reward Wagner’s full career of dedication to Taft Soccer. The goal, in just the 4th minute after halftime, inspired the rest of the half. In retrospect, what happened after Wagner’s goal was a symbolic passing of the torch. Every goal and assist went to a returning player. The seniors brought us far and the returning players took it the rest of the way. Preziotti would streak up the wing from the back line, beating three KO defenders en route to finding Novidzro open centrally. Novidzro would not waste the opportunity and put Taft up 2-1 with 19 minutes to play with a well-placed header. Novidzro would add a second header goal 7 minutes later, this time off a cross from Roberts on a second assist of the day. Continuing her hot streak, Novidzro finished off her hat trick less than a minute from her brace on an individual effort off the dribble for her hat-trick. Enough cannot be said of the Big Red’s second half performance. It was connected, supportive, passionate, driven, and inspired. In a game that had the makings of some other frustrating ties, Taft played to their capacity and just beat their opponent with a perfect combination of skill and will. Taft will look to continue where they left off when they travel to Lakeville to take on arch-rival Hotchkiss in the season finale on Saturday. Kickoff will be at 2:15pm.