Two goals by Julia Acosta on Friday enabled the Greenwich High School girls varsity soccer team to conclude one impressive week of action.

Acosta, a senior captain, scored two goals to lift Greenwich to a well-earned 2-1 win over FCIAC rival New Canaan at Cardinal Stadium in an intense matchup on Friday.

With the win, the Cardinals improved their record to 3-1-1 and finished their busy week at 2-0-1. They dueled FCIAC foe Wilton to a scoreless draw on Tuesday, then defeated Bridgeport Central on Wednesday – both victories came on the road.

“Much like the Wilton display earlier in the week, we dominated in terms of possession and showed great composure to build up the field,” Greenwich coach Simon Rumbold said of his squad’s performance level against New Canaan.

Acosta, an experienced forward, opened the game’s scoring, converting a shot from approximately 25 yards out with 17:21 remaining in the first half, giving GHS a 1-0 lead. Junior forward Skylar Aysseh assisted on Acosta’s first goal.

“I was on the left side, I saw the goal open and I took a shot and aimed for the bottom corners,” Acosta said of her goal, which gave the Cardinals a 1-0 edge. “Once we got that first goal, we knew we could get some more. We just kept moving the ball around – high pressure and played really well as a team overall.”

The Rams (2-3) evened the score at 1-1 when junior Paige Place scored off a shot from 30 yards out with just 1:25 left in the first half. In the second half, New Canaan threatened to take a 2-1 advantage, but Greenwich junior goalie Lauren Huang made a key save off a shot by Rams senior Devon Russell with just under 30 minutes remaining.

Acosta then stepped up and delivered the go-ahead goal. She booted her shot from about 27 yards away inside the right post, putting the Cards ahead, 2-1, with 25:50 to go in the back-and-forth game.

“I think it rebounded off one of the defenders and I took that one shot and I was just very happy it went in,” Acosta said of her second tally. “I think we’re an excellent team. We’ve been connecting really well overall, we know how to move the ball around and we’ve been getting some great games in.”

“Lauren Huang made a huge save at 1-1 that was crucial in keeping forward momentum,” Rumbold said. “Julia Acosta stepped up with two goals and we look forward to more as we progress through the season.”

Senior captains Meghan Ross and Adriana Jones helped spark Greenwich’s defensive effort, which was sound throughout this significant FCIAC matchup.

“It was just furthering what we’ve been working on – staying calm in the back and allowing us to build out from the back,” Ross said of the Cardinals’ defensive play. “When we get the ball down in play, we set it up for the rest of the offense and we open it up for opportunities like Julia to score. It allows us to stay calm and we just get the ball down.”

After the Rams tallied the equalizer just before halftime, the Cardinals regrouped during intermission.

“Definitely, the late goal they had in the first half put us in a little bit of a rut,” Ross said. “But at halftime, we cleared the air and said it’s still 1-1, we’re not losing. We’re even with them now and we start again fresh at the next half and we did. We put another one away and we held it down on defense for the rest of the game.”

Acosta, Aysseh, senior Emma Abbazia and junior Taylor Carrescia helped ignite Greenwich offensively, while senior captain Brooke Wilkowski and sophomore Julia Gustaffson were among some of the midfielders who rose to the occasion.

“Brooke Wilkowski and Julia Acosta were outstanding in controlling the midfield areas,” Rumbold noted. “Adding the improvement in the final third was the aim and we started to see it come through with better movement and incisive play by those in attack areas.”

Greenwich hosts Staples on Wednesday, then travels to Trumbull on Friday.

“Our past few games, we’ve been playing really well, connecting,” Acosta noted. “We’ve had possession for most of the games. We’ve been working on finishing in the final third and then with a few practices, we came into this game knowing that we had to get the finishing in.”

To the left, Anne Louise-Lenschow of Greenwich in action against New Canaan. To the right, Greenwich’s Emma Abbazia moves the ball versus the Rams at Cardinal Stadium.