Girls soccer: Rye wins first state title since 2008 in 2-0 win over Shoreham-Wading River
CORTLAND - The year 2008 feels like an eternity ago.
Rye's current seniors didn't even start kindergarten yet. Their younger teammates were still in diapers. It was the last time the program won a state title in girls soccer, but they were baby Garnets who hadn't even taken their first steps on the pitch.
As they grew older, not only did they learn to love the game, but also the history surrounding their proud program. They learned of the triumphs in 2008, and the double-overtime state finals heartbreak in 2010. They hoped to bring a state championship back to Rye one day.
They weren't afraid to dream big and as they've shown at various points of this season, they can certainly play big, too. Rye rose to the occasion, posting another shutout and claiming its first state championship since 2008 with a 2-0 win over Long Island-based Shoreham-Wading River.
"It feels amazing, just doing it with this team, with our parents, our fans and everybody back at home," said Rye senior Maddy Walsh of bringing back the program's first state championship in 15 years. "It's the best feeling in the world, being able to end on a win. It's the first time in a while, so it's amazing. Our community at home is unbeatable. They show up to every game, the little girls make posters for us and idolize us. It's so nice to be able to do what we want to do and bring this home."
It was the biggest game that any player on Rye's roster had played in, to date, and there was plenty on the line in their first trip to Cortland since 2010. For a group of players that played in their first state final four, the Garnets didn't look like a group of newcomers that would be caught up in the bright lights of high school girls soccer's biggest stage.
"Coming this far, we never know how good the other teams are or how well we're going to play, but we know we just work so hard," said Rye freshman Charlotte Keenan, who was named the game MVP. "To have it all work out in the end is an amazing feeling. We knew we needed to get our energy up. This is our last game, and all of our seniors' last game, so we had to give it everything we have and leave it all on the field."
After a scoreless stalemate in the first half, Rye doubled down on its urgency. The Garnets didn't want to leave anything for overtime, so with the final 40 minutes of the season ahead of them, they were determined to finish on top.
They got a big momentum boost shortly after halftime, as Lyla Keenan sent in a corner kick that was finished off by a hard-hit header from Walsh for the game's first goal in the opening minutes of the second half.
"I felt it coming," said Rye sophomore Tessa Labovitz, who was named the finals Most Outstanding Goalkeeper. "We've scored in a lot of second halves of games. To get that goal, I was over the moon, and we were all so excited. It just gave us so much momentum."
Rye would net the dagger and an insurance goal, when Walsh threw a ball into Charlotte Keenan. The Garnet freshman kicked a high-arcing rainbow shot that sailed over a leaping effort from Shoreham-Wading River's goalkeeper and plopped in for the second goal of the game, with approximately 13 minutes remaining.
The Wildcats desperately tried to salvage the game, and mustered a couple of shots in the closing minutes of the match. Labovitz made a couple of nice saves to preserve the victory, and she and the rest of the Garnets' back line worked hard to secure another state final four shutout.
"Defenders, we don't score goals much, so a shutout is our version of a goal, I guess," Rye sophomore Claire Nemsick said. "It makes everyone on the field feel so much more comfortable when we know our defense can do it and get a shutout."
The victory also marked a satisfying end for the Garnets' seniors, who first got a taste of victory as freshmen during a COVID-impacted 2020-21 season. They won the Section 1 Southern Westchester large schools title, but didn't get the full experience of advancing to a state playoff. Now, they get a proper ending to their careers, one filled with championship fanfare.
"It's completely different now, we were the freshmen of that team, and we're the seniors of this team," said Rye's Mali White. "It's really full-circle for us to go all the way that year, and now go all the way this year. We made it. There's nothing more now, other than watch them in the future do it again."
What it means
The Garnets are state champions for the first time since 2008. They close the season with 18 straight victories, a stretch that includes 16 shutouts. They went through the entire postseason giving up only one goal, which came in a 4-1 victory against Lourdes in the state regional final. Rye outscored its postseason opponents by a 24-1 margin.
Cortland High School has been a kind venue to Section 1 teams in recent years. In 2019, Pleasantville won its semifinal match against Greece Olympia, 4-0, en route to claiming the Class B state title. Last season, it was the site of Irvington's first state championship win, as it held off Haverling in an overtime thriller. Now, the Garnets post back-to-back shutouts to cap off a remarkable postseason run.
Game balls
Charlotte Keenan, Rye: What a weekend for the Garnet freshman. After netting a hat trick in the state semifinals, she followed up with an insurance goal on a high-arcing shot and was named the Most Valuable Player.
Tessa Labovitz, Rye: The Garnets' sophomore tallied another clean sheet and she was named the match's Most Outstanding Goalkeeper.
Maddy Walsh, Rye: Her value is well-documented and she had a hand in both scoring plays. She headed in a ball off a corner kick for the game's first goal, then assisted Keenan on a throw-in for the insurance goal.
By the numbers
Rye (22-2): The Garnets logged their 18th straight win and 16th shutout of the season. They blanked their opponents in seven of eight postseason matches. Maddy Walsh had one goal and one assist. Charlotte Keenan had a goal. Lyla Keenan had an assist. Tessa Labovitz made three saves.
Shoreham-Wading River (15-6-3): Grace Hillis was named the Wildcats' Most Outstanding Player of the finals match.
They said it
"At that moment, when we beat Scarsdale (for the Section 1 regional title in 2020), I knew this was a special group of girls," said Rye coach Rich Savage, alluding to his senior class that played major minutes since they were underclassmen. "This year, the first time we played Albertus Magnus, we lost 1-0, but we challenged them a lot. Then, at the end of our regular season, it was a gauntlet of teams from Arlington and Pearl River, and we beat all of them. We survived this gauntlet of (six games in eight days) and we said we got to use this energy for the playoffs."
"It's an exciting feeling, but I'm just happy and honored to be here," said first-year varsity player Charlotte Keenan of being named the finals MVP. "My team, it's just a great team all-around, and we all make each other better, and we've all worked hard. It's just a great group of girls, everyone's so nice, and we just bond well as a team and it shows on the field."
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls soccer: Rye wins first Class A state title since 2008
