Ledyard girls capture ECC Division III soccer championship
Ledyard — Lest Emily Lehet think this soccer coaching thing was easy, what with winning a conference tournament title in just her third year (2019), along came the attention-getter known as a pandemic.
“The schedule changed for us last year and we had to play the regional schedule against bigger schools,” Lehet was saying Wednesday night under much happier circumstances at Ledyard High School.
“There were lots of tears last year. We’d play so hard, the kids would do all the things we asked and we just didn’t see the results.”
The desired results reached a crescendo Wednesday on a windy night at Bill Mignault Field. The Colonels get to hang a banner in the gym again, following a 4-1 win over Montville that earned them the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division III title.
“I get to stare at the banner every day from my office now,” Lehet cracked, alluding to her position as a physical education teacher.
And while the results weren’t kind to the Colonels last year, the universe appeared to have big plans for the program anyway. As in: It’s OK, folks. Megan’s coming.
That would be freshman Megan Armstrong, an eighth-grader last year. Armstrong scored all four goals for her team Wednesday night.
“We put a lot of work into this,” Armstrong said. “It means a lot.”
Armstrong gave the Colonels a 2-0 lead at halftime. Her biggest of the four goals came early in the second half after Montville’s Madisen Price cut the lead to 2-1. Armstrong scored a little under three minutes later.
“It’s the work of all the great through balls my teammates gave me and all the practice the coaches have us do shooting to the corners,” Armstrong said.
“I heard whispers about her coming last year,” Lehet said. “But you hear whispers a lot and you never know what’s true. Megan has a lot of spunk. One of the most coachable kids I’ve ever been around. Always asking the right questions. She wants to get better.”
Ledyard is 9-2-3 overall, 7-0 in the division. Montville fell to 7-8, 5-3.
m.dimauro@theday.com
Ledyard Montville girls soccer photo gallery
for additional photos from the Ledyard Montville girls soccer game click here.
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