Women’s Soccer Wins and Advances to Regionals

The Vikings got a 3-1 win on Saturday over Onondaga, earning the chance for a bye in the first round of the regional tournament.

“This game is huge. We want momentum moving into the tournament,” said women’s soccer head coach Jay Pokines.

“We need something to build on,” he said.

Saturday’s game was the Vikings’ last of the regular season. This weekend, they will start playing in the regional tournament.

“Every player is working hard out there,” said Pokines. “They all need to be one unit for all 90 minutes.”

The Vikings lost two of their previous three games and tied the other. In those games combined, the Vikings scored just 1 goal total.

With 3 goals this game, the Vikings have improved offensively since their recent games.

“Our defense feeds our offense. If we play together there will be no problems,” said sophomore co-captain Molly O’Brian, who plays the midfield.

“We need to play better as a team,” said sophomore co-captain Emily Taplin, who goaltends for the Vikings. “There’s not one weakness to pick out on this team, we are weak when we don’t play together.”

The Vikings top offensive player, Tiara Kruzinski, was involved in every goal the Vikings made on Saturday.

Kruzinski scored a goal and assisted the other two. Both of the other goals, assisted by Kruzinski, were scored by Morgan Bailey.

The Vikings finished the regular season with a 10-3-1 record.

“We’ve come this far as a team. We have to finish that way,” said Kruzinski.