Nichols Girls Win Hall of Fame Opener

On Saturday afternoon, Nichols bested Tamarac in Hall of Fame tournament play. Each year fifty of New York’s best soccer teams gather in the Albany area to play frendlies. On Sunday the opponent will be South Glens Falls.

Playing without scoring leaders Mirann Gacioch (college recruited players campus gathering at Ohio State) and Linda Ullmark (broken nose in Thursday’s game), Nichols had to reimagine their offense. Three JV players were elevated for the tournament. “These non-league games are good opportunities to see our young players compete against strong, more experienced opponents,” said Coach Desautels after the game. “Today they proved themselves.”

Nichols had several first-half opportunities but couldn’t finish until a nice series of passes ended on Charlotte Greene’s foot in the box, and she drove a hard shot past the divingTamarac keeper. Emerson Bacak started the play with a nice diagonal drive from the left, to Zaineb Ahmed (’22) who one-timed it to a rushing Greene. More chances followed but the half ended with that slim 1-0 advantage.

In the second half Tamarac’s offense picked up a bit, but the defense continued to hold them off. Then with ten minutes remaining, Ella Fishkin (’24) rushed in from her left midfield position and scored in a scramble at the left post. Somehow she found the back of the net on this pass from Greene.

Nichols now sits on a 1-2-1 record, hoping to add a second victory on Sunday