With two games remaining in the regular season, the Sacred Heart Greenwich soccer team sports a sparkling 12-2-1 record, including a perfect mark of 8-0 in the FAA.

Such success has earned the Tigers several impressive accomplishments – the FAA regular season championship, the No. 1 seed in the rapidly approaching FAA Soccer Tournament and home field advantage throughout the tourney.

“We’re super excited, especially going in as the No. 1 seed and having the home field advantage,” Sacred Heart senior forward/tri-captain Madison Hart said of the FAA Tournament. “I feel like we’re super excited about the possibility of winning a championship.”

The Tigers clinched the FAA regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the league tournament with a 2-0 triumph at home against Greens Farms Academy on Monday. During the FAA matchup against the Dragons, the Tigers exhibited their energy and ability to make adjustments.

“It was a game that we were excited to play at home,” SHG coach Stuart Smith said. “We were surprised in the way that they set up against us. They changed a couple of things to what we expected, so we had to adapt and change. One of the qualities of our team is that they can adapt on the fly and we can play a number of different formations.”

In the win against Greens Farms Academy, sophomore midfielder Arianna Chin gave Sacred Heart a 1-0 lead depositing a penalty kick in the bottom left corner of the goal in the 26th minute. Junior forward Eva Wilkerson drew the penalty kick by getting fouled in the box.

“Going into the game, we knew if we won the game, we won the league,” Smith noted. “It was important to get that goal. GFA kept coming at us, they had a strong forward that caused us problems. Our defense was resilient and stood up to the test really well.”

Said Madison Hart, who has helped pace the midfield play, along with sophomore Scarlett Pfistner: ” They are a really tough team. It was a tough atmosphere. We battled the entire game. We were super aggressive and it was really fun to get a huge win like that.

On offense and defense we have been super successful,” Hart continued. “We have been getting a lot of goals on the board every game and our defense has had multiple shutouts this year, which is super important. We are a well-rounded team this year.

In the second half, Wilkerson extended the Tigers’ lead, scoring on a breakaway in which she was 1-on-1 with the GFA goalie, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Sophomore goalie Olivia Figueiredo earned the shutout win for Sacred Heart. Figueiredo and the Tigers have held their opponents scoreless seven times so far this season, while allowing only 13 goals in 15 games.

“Our defense is four seniors and we’ve had multiple shutouts so far,” Sacred Heart senior captain/defender Olivia Leahy said. “We’ve been really successful, because we are close friends off the field and I think that translates on to the field with our chemistry and ability to prevent goals.”

Leahy, senior captain Ashley O’Meara, senior Maggie Bacigalupo, senior Giada Coviello and senior Lila O’Brien give SHG an experienced backline that’s accustomed to playing in tight, competitive games, many of which have come in the postseason the past several years.

“Maggie has been huge for us in the air, she has so many headers,” Smith pointed out. “Liv and Giada understand the game really well and Ashley has been great for us on the left. The four of them complement each other well.”

So far this fall, Sacred Heart has registered victories against Rye Country Day School, Hamden Hall Country Day School, St. Luke’s School, Greenwich Academy, Greenwich Country Day School, Hopkins, Suffield Academy, Hotchkiss School, Kent School, King, Greens Farms Academy and most recently, Millbrook School. The Tigers topped Millbrook on Wednesday at home, 3-0.

“So far we’ve been playing very, very well, I’m very proud of these girls,” O’Meara said. “We’ve all been working super well on and off the field.”

O’Meara has been pleased to see the team execute their game plan efficiently throughout the season and move the ball around.

“This season, I feel like we have connected those passes during games,” she said. “We’re not frantic, we’re calm and we have been very successful on defense and offense. If you look at our record, not only do we score a lot of goals, but we have shutouts most of the time. So, it’s been a very good season.”

After starting the 2023 season with a loss against a Choate Rosemary Hall and a tie versus Taft School, SHG reeled off 10 wins in a row, before losing at home to Miss Porter’s School. Now, they have won their last two games.

“We went into the Greens Farms game knowing was going to be a challenging game,” Bacigalupo said. “Greens Farms has had a great season. But coming off a loss to Miss Porter’s, we knew we were going to have to step it up and get a win.”

“We’re super excited, this is the first time in five years that we’re ranked No. 1 in the FAA,” Bacigalupo continued. “We’re guaranteed the home field advantage and we’re super excited.”

Freshman forward Clare Greisen is the Tigers’ leading goal scorer. Greisen who has 18 goals on the season, suffered an ankle injury in the squad’s game against Miss Porter’s and is expected to miss a couple/few weeks of action. Wilkerson leads the squad in assists, while Chin is the next leading goal scorer.

“Everyone leads each other on our team,” said Wilkerson, who mostly plays on the left wing. “It’s not any one person telling everyone where to go. We all work collectively together. It’s been really great this year. Everyone is united and here for the same reason and everyone is committed to the team. That’s really led us to the successful season we’re having.”

Sacred Heart hosts FAA foe School of the Holy Child on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. They then close out their regular season on Nov. 1 against host Masters School. The FAA Tournament is scheduled to begin on Nov. 6 and they will have home games throughout.

“Our motivation is to keep going,” Leahy said. “We’ve had a successful season so far, but we’re not done yet. We have to keep pushing forward. I think we should have a lot of confidence going into the tournament with our record so far. We have to keep working hard to get there.”

“Going in as the No. 1 seed is a huge advantage and I know we are capable of a lot,” O’Meara said.

Heading into Wednesday’s game against Millbrook School, Sacred Heart Greenwich was ranked fifth in the NEPSAC and were on pace to qualify for the eight-team NEPSAC Class A Tournament for the first time in program history.

“We knew we had a lot of good returning players coming back this year,” Smith said while referencing the squad’s success. “One of the keys was having four senior defenders coming back this year. We had a 10-game winning streak, which is unbelievable, with some really big wins along the way. They go into every game and they battle and fight and give everything to represent the school.”