Greenwich High School’s girls soccer team put the finishing touch on an outstanding regular season with an impressive 2-0 win over Fairfield Warde in an FCIAC game held at Cardinal Stadium on Monday. Now the Cardinals, who concluded a regular season to remember with only one loss are determined to make their mark in the postseason.

Having such a stellar regular season earned the Cardinals the No. 3 seed in the FCIAC Tournament and they will receive a home game in the first round of the tourney – the quarterfinals – for the first time in numerous seasons.

Seeded third, Greenwich hosts sixth-seeded Darien in Thursday’s 3:30 p.m. FCIAC Tournament quarterfinals at Cardinal Stadium. Greenwich enters the playoff matchup with a strong record of 10-1-4.

“It’s been a long process, five or six years to work up to this point,” Greenwich coach Simon Rumbold said of the Cardinals’ significant improvement each season. “We’ve improved our points tally for the sixth year in a row since I’ve been in charge.”

St. Joseph (14-0-1) is seeded No. 1 in the FCIAC Tournament, as it finished the regular season with 43 points. Staples (11-1-3) is the No. 2 seed (36 points) and right behind them is Greenwich (10-1-4, 34 points) which has experienced its most successful regular season in more than five years. The FCIAC Tournament includes eight teams, with the quarterfinals being held on Thursday and the semifinals taking place Monday. Greenwich’s lone loss this season is to St. Joseph. They played Staples to a 2-2 draw.

Indeed, the Cards are looking forward to playing their first postseason home game in quite a while.

“It’s a big plus, we were looking for that the whole season,” said Greenwich senior captain/defender Meghan Ross, who helped pace the team’s defensive effort against Fairfield Warde on Monday. “After the first game, we knew this was going to be our season. We needed to get a high seed, a home game is better, we don’t have to travel and we have our fans at home.”

For the season, Greenwich has yielded only 16 goals in 15 games, while registering eight shutouts.

“With one loss, we feel great going into the playoffs and we know we can win,” said GHS senior captain/forward Julia Acosta, who has helped spark the squad’s offense for several seasons. “I think we’re definitely very excited. We’re glad to have a home game for the quarterfinals and we hope to get to the semifinals.”

The Cardinals, who have scored 38 goals in 15 games, have posted victories against Brien McMahon, Bridgeport Central, New Canaan, Danbury, Darien, Stamford, Norwalk, Westhill, Fairfield Ludlowe and Fairfield Warde.

“We can compete with anyone, so the challenge now is can we go do it in the playoffs,” Rumbold noted.

Consistency has been one of the key components for the Cards, who have received productive efforts from each athlete that has competed.

“I am super proud of the team,” said senior midfielder/captain Brooke Wilkowski, who has sparked the midfield play. “It’s really exciting, we’ve got a bunch of great girls. Everyone can play super well. The level doesn’t go down no matter who subs in or out.”

In Greenwich’s 2-0 triumph against visiting Fairfield Warde on Monday in the regular season finale, Acosta and senior forward Emma Abbazia scored one goal apiece.

Acosta scored early in the first half, converting a shot from approximately 20 yards out.

“It was in the first few minutes,” Acosta said of her goal. “We were attacking and I think it rebounded off one of their defenders and I took a touch and shot to goal.”

Abbazia gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead on the Mustangs with 43 seconds remaining in the first half. Moving the ball along the sideline, the speedy Abbazia beat a pair of Warde athletes, gave herself a good angle to shoot and directed a shot with from the right side from 10 yards out in the lower right corner of the goal, making it 2-0.

Also a four-season varsity player, Abbazia has helped ignite the Cardinals’ offense. Lauren Huang received the shutout win in goal for GHS against Warde.

“I think we played really well,” said Greenwich senior defender/captain Adriana Jones, another four-year varsity player. “We were able to stay composed and keep possession and swing the ball around the back – we had a lot of success.”

Rumbold reflected on Greenwich’s win in its regular season finale.

“We started off really well and got the goal,” he said. “We capitalized on the chances we made to secure the game. What was pleasing was the girls who were not getting as many minutes, came on and did a great job. That’s good, not only for not, but for the future too for the young players.”

Currently, Greenwich is ranked seventh in the CIAC Class LL state rankings, which would give them a home game in the opening round of the state tournament.

The four senior captains have been with the team throughout the whole improvement process.

“The group of seniors and captains – when we went into COVID, they were freshmen and we prioritized them and we bought into them and they bought into us,” Rumbold said. “Three years later, it’s come into fruition. They’ve got a lot of experience and they’ve been in this situation before and this program has been turned around the last few years and they’ve had a big part of it.”

Since losing to St. Joseph on Sept. 13 – the second game of the season – Greenwich has a record of 9-0-4 – a 13-game unbeaten streak.

“We have been on a win streak, we are all getting in the right head space to perform,” Ross noted. “Today, we played our best and we got a lot of people on the ball and in the game.”

“We’ve kept improving the past four years,” Acosta added. “We’ve been on the team, the four of us and we’ve improved so much as a team collectively.”

The semifinal-round of the FCIAC Girls Soccer Tournament is scheduled for Monday at New Canaan High School, with the games taking place at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“To be successful in the playoffs we have to keep up the intensity, but we’re not really worried about that, because we have a strong team,” Wilkowski noted. “It is super exciting, especially with a team like this where everyone wants to play.”

“I’m really confident in our team, we only have one loss,” Jones said. “I’m confident in the way we play and excited to see our team go far.”