Greenwich High School’s girls soccer team knows the time is now for it to earn more points, so it could move up in the standings as the season has reached its halfway point.

The Cardinals took a significant step in the right direction with a complete team effort in an impressive 2-1 win over FCIAC opponent Danbury High School at Cardinal Stadium on Tuesday.

“We got three points, this a big week for us, we need to take points this week,” Cardinals coach Simon Rumbold said. “That was probably the best we played all season.”

Greenwich’s offense was sparked by senior Skylar Aysseh and sophomore Ashley Morris, both of whom scored key goals in the winning effort. With the victory, the Cardinals improved their record to 3-4 overall and raised their point total in the FCIAC standings to nine points.

The FCIAC matchup saw the Cardinals score the first two goals in the opening half, before the Hatters tallied, making the score 2-1 at halftime.

“I thought we played pretty well, in the beginning we were good at connecting passes,” said Greenwich junior Anna Lenschow, who was one of numerous players that sparked the squad. “Toward the end of the first half when they scored it kind of fell apart a little bit, because everyone got a little nervous on the ball. But we were able to hold our ground toward the end and make sure they didn’t score again.”

Greenwich’s goals came early in the first half. Aysseh’s goal occurred with 28:57 remaining in the opening half, giving GHS a 1-0 lead. Sophomore forward Harriet Franks helped set up the goal, drawing a defender, before Aysseh controlled the ball and drove a shot home.

“Harriet went to dribble and shoot and she fell and she dragged the defender with her, so it was just an open shot,” Aysseh explained.

With 20:34 to go in the first half, Greenwich doubled its advantage to 2-0 when Morris scored on a similar type play.

“I went to shoot but then the girl fell in front of me and then I hit it to the side and Ashley scored,” Aysseh said. “It was the same kind of goal.”

In the 22nd minute, Danbury tallied cutting Greenwich’s lead to 2-1. That was all the game’s scoring, as it was a back-and-forth battle thereafter, with both squads battling for possession.

“We had control of the game, created chances and spent a lot of time in their box,” Rumbold said. “They hustled really hard. They scored the goal and it turned into a game – the second half it got a little bit scrappy.”

“The girls showed resilience and they fought,” Rumbold continued. “The first half was the best passing we’ve seen. They made some tweaks to adjust to us and try to make it more difficult. Things got tense at the end and we knew we had to get points on the board and the girls handled it well. It was a good start to hopefully, a good week.”

Senior goalie Lauren Huang made four saves for the Cardinals, who received stellar defensive play throughout this intense conference matchup. Greenwich is in action again Thursday, as it travels to FCIAC rival Darien.

Indeed, there were plenty of positives from their win against the Hatters that the Cardinals hope to continue in their next match.

“We did a good job of keeping the ball on the ground, once we get the ball in the air we start to lose it a bit,” Aysseh noted. “Once the ball is on the ground, we know how to work the ball. Our movement was good off the ball.”

Said Lenschow: “We were good at connecting passes throughout the midfield as well. We’ve been practicing a lot throughout the season on different aspects of our game. Now we know to go for every 50/50 ball.”