Trailing by two goals against a tough Taft School team, the Greenwich Academy soccer team closed to within a goal on a second-half tally by Winnie Welch, then came close to scoring the equalizer several times in the closing minute.

Yet, the tying goal didn’t come for Greenwich Academy, which was edged by visiting Taft, 2-1, in a a well-played NEPSAC matchup. GA holds a record of 6-3-2, heading into Saturday’s road game against another formidable NEPSAC boarding school foe – Hotchkiss School.

Greenwich Academy co-captain/forward Lauren Harteveldt, who helped the team create several scoring chances, especially in the second half, was pleased with GA’s overall effort throughout Wednesday’s game.

“The result is obviously disappointing, but we were pretty dominant in both halves and each and everyone of our players put their full heart into it,” said Harteveldt, who has provided an offensive spark to the GA team throughout the season. “It’s obviously a tough loss. But we’re going to keep our heads up and we have a big game ahead and we’ll come in strong for that and hopefully, we’ll get a big win.”

Behind late first-half goals from eighth-grader Marion Ayeh and senior Susanna Adams, Taft entered halftime with a 2-0 lead.

Junior forward/midfielder Winnie Welch cut Taft’s lead in half for Greenwich Academy, registering a goal with 32:44 remaining in the second half. In the second half, senior midfielder Ali Jaquiery connected passes together with senior defender/midfielder Taylor Glanville and Harteveldt, as GA tried to even the score.

Sophomore Lola Tirabassi and junior Ellie Burdick were among some of the GA players that helped the team maintain possession in the second half.

“I thought we played really well, we had a lot of great passes,” Welch said. “The ball was in their half most of the time, so we were playing a more attacking soccer play. I thought we were passing really well, communicating really well and supporting each other.”

Welch was impressed with how the team responded to Taft’s two first-half tallies.

“In the first half, when they scored the two goals in the last five minutes, we kind of got our heads down, but the second half, we brought our energy back up,” Welch said. “Each game we get better and better. The more teams we play and the more games we play, we get better and better as a team.”

Freshman Este Tejpaul played well in goal throughout for Greenwich Academy, which beat King School, 6-0, in a road game on Tuesday.

“It’s been tough playing back-to-back games last week and this week,” Harteveldt said. “We were at King yesterday, which is a good game. For every game won, lost or tie, we can learn. There’s always room for improvement.”

Harteveldt had a hat trick in GA’s triumph against King, while senior Sophie Burraway, Jaquiery and Glanville added a goal apiece. Sophomore Maya Tillman, Welch and Jaquiery each assisted on goals in the win.