The Taft Rhinos opened their season on a hot sunny afternoon versus the Covenant of the Sacred Heart Tigers. The first half seemed to favor the visitors as they seemed more poised and ready to play. The Tigers maintained possession well and were able to keep the pressure on the Rhino defense early in the game. The Tigers opened the scoring in the 8th minute with a nice through ball that the striker was able to place in the back of the net beating keeper Sarah Elkas. As the Rhinos started to settle in, the possession become more even between the two teams. Despite the increased confidence from the home team, Sacred Heart scored a second goal against the run of play in the 25th minute. Capitalizing on a turnover and the consequential chaos that ensued, Sacred Heart scored a nice cut back goal beating the keeper once again. This was the last goal of the game for the visitors as Taft continued to work hard for each other and together versus a good opponent. The second half was all Taft with the Rhinos gaining the lion’s share of possession right from the whistle. The defense anchored by Grace Denious and Margo Kahler kept the chances for the visiting team at a minimum. Strong play from the outside backs Stirling Thopmpson, Ellie Perkins and Erin Lonergan helped keep the pressure high and the ball forward. The midfield started clicking well with strong play from Katie Gilland who was pivotal in the build-up to the first goal. In the 15th minute, she combined with the strong attacking play of Ella Connolly who fed the ball to Sadie Frame who finished for the first goal of her hat trick. The Rhinos scored again in the 22nd minute when Keeley Brooks stole possession from a goalie clear, she fed the ball quickly to Charlotte Hanson. Hanson gave a great through ball pass to Sadie Frame who leveled the score at 2-2. The attacking pressure created with Annabelle Shanks and later Annabel Brawn on the right side of the pitch kept the Tigers defense busy. Sacred Heart started to settle down at this point and began generating some dangerous chances at the other end of the field. Keeper Sarah Elkas had a big safe in the 30th minute to keep the game level and her poise under pressure helped to calm the situation. Hollen Spain started making her presence known moving up the right hand side along with Celia Torino. In the 35th minute, Taft scored the winning goal off of strong midfield play and another feed to Sadie Frame who put in the winning goal. The rest was left up to the defense who finished strong versus a motivated side. The Rhinos look forward to their next game on Saturday away at Greenwich Country day.