On a brisk, Monday afternoon, the Taft Lady Rhinos enthusiastically left their last classes early to take the long bus ride down to Greenwich and take on the Greenwich Academy Gators. As the bus winded through the backroads of Fairfield County, the squad ogled at dreamy real estate and fought against their car sickness, both of which illustrated the power of dreaming big and fighting through adversity, which coincidentally foreshadowed the major themes of our Monday evening battle. The ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the inaugural game on GA’s new turf field recalled that of the opening of a new hospital, and the imminent match up was certainly of equal importance. 11 Rhinos and 11 Gators sauntered onto the field like show ponies prancing into the Main Ring, but as soon as the first whistle blew, they transformed into wild stallions. The Rhinos, led by honorary captain Emma Strub, bucked and kicked to get control of play. An unlucky handball in the Rhino box 5 minutes in led to the first goal of the game for GA on a composed penalty kick – good refs are a blessing and a curse, am I right? As our earlier games this season have proven, the Lady Rhinos are true underdogs, the Secretariats of soccer, who rarely let a goal go unresponded to. 22 minutes in, Taft’s very own wild mustang Ruth Amponsah ’27 trotted the ball around GA’s entire defense (including their talented goalie) and over the goal line to tie up the match. That’s a blue ribbon for you, Ruthie! With just about a minute left in the first half, a stupendous GA corner kick resulted in their second goal of the game to put them ahead going into the back half of the match. Coach Swift’s half time pump up talk included plenty of carrots and sticks, as well as a plan to lead these horses to water AND make ‘em drink. The second half was as action packed as the final race of the Triple Crown, and Taft was racing against the odds to come out on top. Senior Taft goalie Sofia Smith had a career highlight play on her double slide tackle save on a GA breakaway that could have had the song “Get Off of My Back” from the classic animated epic “Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron” as its soundtrack. That got the team amped up and ready to give their blood, sweat, and tears to the rest of this game. Like bucking broncos at a rodeo, our Rhinos got major air to head the ball down to the GA zone and put shot after shot on frame. With all the races called and the horses back in the stables, Taft came up just short of a victory in this competition. The good news is they’ve now got a week to rest up in preparation for NMH at the end of the week. Final score: 1-2.