The FAA soccer matchup between Greenwich Academy and Greenwich Country Day School on Sept. 13th may have been an early-season game, yet it certainly had the look and feel of a postseason affair.

The intensity, spirit, aggressiveness and level of play was high throughout and after 80 exciting minutes of action, both teams left Greenwich Academy’s Tammaro Field with one well-earned point.

Host Greenwich Academy held a two-goal second half lead and seemed on its way to registering a victory against one of its FAA rivals, but Greenwich Country Day School responded with two late, second half goals. As a result, this back-and-forth battle concluded in a well-played 2-2 tie.

“It was really high emotion,” Greenwich Academy senior co-captain Juliana Kreuzer said. “The games against GCDS have been pretty hard fought the past few years, they have been hard-fought battles. It’s always been a good fight, so we’re always pretty excited to go out there and play them.”

Junior forward Clemi Milligan scored two goals to lead the Gators, while sophomore forward Rapha Jacobson tallied the game-tying goal for the Tigers with less than one minute left to play in the second half, enabling the matchup to end in a 2-2 draw.

“I’m really proud of this really good performance,” Jacobson said. “We were down 2-0 with about 15 minutes left and really stepped it up.”

Trailing 2-1, Greenwich Country Day took a corner kick with just under two minutes remaining. GA sophomore goalie Lavely Corbin made a save off the corner kick, keeping her team in front. However, with less than one minute to go in the second half, GCDS was awarded another corner kick and this time, it cashed in on the set piece.

Running hard toward the goal off the corner kick, Jacobson got her foot on the ball that was sent into the box and scored, making it a 2-2 game.

“It was 2-1 and there was less than a minute left and it was the second corner in a row and I just knew anything had to happen to get it in,” Jacobson said. “It was coming my way and I tried to do whatever I could to get the goal.”

Behind by two goals, the Tigers cut the Gators’ lead in half with a goal at the 9:27 mark of the second half – the game’s 71st minute. The hard-fought first half concluded in a scoreless tie, then GA seized the lead early in the second half.

Milligan got loose on a breakaway, moving the ball past midfield and booted a shot past Greenwich Country Day’s diving senior goalie Caroline Muzio, inside the right post, giving Greenwich Academy a 1-0 advantage with 32:52 remaining in the second half.

With 16:31 to go in the second half, Milligan struck again off another breakaway. Finding herself 1-on-1 with the goalie, Milligan tallied to put the Gators ahead by two goals.

“I was really happy with our composure on the ball, I thought we controlled the ball for most of the time,” Greenwich Academy senior midfielder/defender Maggie Whidden said. “We started off really strong had a great first two games and I think even this game was great.”

Indeed, GA is off to an impressive start to its 2025 season, registering a record of 3-0-1 in the FAA for 10 points. Coached by Kate Sands, the Gators have posted victories against FAA opponents Masters School, King School, School of the Holy Child and have this time game against Greenwich Country Day. GA also was victorious against non-league foe Hackley School and is 4-0-1 overall on the season.

“We have a lot of team chemistry and it’s a positive outlook for the rest of the season,” Whidden said.

Whidden, Kreuzer, Zahra Avdiu and Yardley Brunt helped spark GA in the back, while Milligan, sophomore Katherine Higgs and junior Skelly Lewis created chances up front for the host Gators.

“We love fighting it out with these guys, it’s a lot of fun,” Kreuzer said of competing against Greenwich Country Day. “It’s frustrating, because we were close. It would have been nice to get the win. But overall, it was a great game.”

Following its tie against GA, GCDS played another tight game against another FAA rival – Sacred Heart Greenwich. GCDS was edged in a typical, physical league affair, 2-1, on Sept. 16.

GCDS head coach Neil Phillips was pleased with his squad’s performance against Greenwich Academy as well as their perseverance.

“I thought the first half was even, I thought we edged a little bit in possession and tried to move the ball around,” Phillips said. “The second half we allowed them to win the midfield battle that led to the breakaways, but with that said, our word for the season is relentlessness.”

Greenwich Country Day changed its formation in the second half in an attempt to move the ball forward and apply more pressure on GA.

“We went 3-5-2, we could have left ourselves exposed at the back, but we had to try to do something at 2-0 down.,” Phillips said. “The girls took it fully on board and I couldn’t be happier for them.”

Forward Morgan Ertel, defender Georgia Grogan, Bella Gislason and Mia Seko Thompson are Greenwich Country Day’s senior captains and they all rose to the occasion and were active throughout in the team’s match versus Greenwich Academy.

Both teams have hopes of contending for the coveted FAA Tournament championship.

“They are hungry, they work hard, they want to achieve something,’ Phillips said of his GCDS squad. “They are working hard and listening, so we can’t wait to see where we end up this season.”

“Overall, just always working hard, hustling first to every ball and getting wins,” Kreuzer said of her GA team.