Valdivieso Hat Trick Helps Thunder Snap Winless Streak

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Taconic girls soccer team came into Thursday’s game against Lee with just one goal and no wins to show for its first 10 games.

 

Ninth-grader Maria Valdivieso doubled her team’s goal total for the season midway through the first half and went on to score two more goals in a 3-1 win over Lee at Berkshire Community College.

 

The Thunder came out on the right side of the scoreboard for the first time since Oct. 13, 2022, ending a 27-game winless streak with authority.

 

“It’s big,” Taconic coach Dean Bamford said. “It’s been a long time. … They don’t always see what I’m asking for, what I want on the practice field. But to see it connecting on the game field – that’s what we’ve asked for, and that’s what we’ve seen.

 

“This year, we’ve been doing a little bit more video analysis. So we’ve watched games back, we pause it, we’ve talked about it and then taken that from the film into practice and, today, connected in the game. That’s what we’ve asked.”

 

Taconic may have learned some lessons from their first meeting with the Wildcats, a 6-0 setback in Lee back on Sept. 11.

 

On Thursday, Lee generated a couple more quality chances early on, but keeper Tilly Delsignore (40 minutes, three saves) and the Taconic defense stood up to the challenge.

 

Starting around the 22-minute mark, Lee earned five corner kick opportunities in the space of about three minutes.

 

Each time, the Thunder was able to deny.

 

“We’ve worked on that tirelessly, practicing, ‘body shape,’ ‘body shape,’ ‘body shape,’ “ Bamford said. “The one time we didn’t something happened. But, overall, we’ve worked on our body shape, positioning, who we’re marking, who we’re running.

 

“And, today, all that hard work has come to fruition.”

 

After the fifth in that sequence of unsuccessful Lee corners, Taconic countered, and Valdivieso ended up slipping a shot past Wildcats keeper Mia Puleri (seven saves) to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead.

 

“If it wasn’t for everybody else – I mean, I know I was the one who scored the goals, but it was definitely a team effort,” Valdivieso said as her teammates continued the postgame celebration around her. “Lydia [DiNicola] passed me a really good ball the first time. … The third one a good pass came from midfield.

 

“So it was a team effort. And we did a really good job today.”

 

Moments after Valdivieso opened the scoring, Lee earned yet another corner kick try at the other end of the field.

 

Again, Taconic’s defense held up and produced a counter opportunity. This time, it was DiNicola putting the pressure on with a run at the other end. But Lee’s defense was able to deny her a shot on goal.

 

In the 30th minute, Valdivieso was able to finish again. This time, the scoring play started with a punt by Delsignore and ended with a 2-0 lead that the Thunder took into half-time.

 

To start the second half, Delsignore moved from the goal to the field, and Emily Roberts donned the red pinny and gloves to take over in the net.

 

She was greeted by seven more Lee corner kicks in the first 16 minutes of the half. But Taconic’s defense continued to stand up and preserve the lead.

 

 Finally, in the 67th minute, Lee got on the scoreboard.

 

A cross from deep on the left wing was deflected off a Taconic defender to Wildcats midfielder Emily Hall, who put the ball in the back of the net to give her team a chance to get back into the game.

 

Lee’s momentum lasted just 25 seconds.

 

With 13 minutes, 31 seconds on the clock, Valdivieso put away her third goal of the game to re-establish the two-goal margin.

 

Lee’s best chance to get back within a goal came with about 10 minutes left when Ava Lucy made a dangerous run down the right wing on a counter.

 

Taconic’s Tahira Chimarro ran her down and denied Lucy a shot – not the first time that the Thunder defender took away a scoring opportunity on Thursday.

 

“She’s small but very aggressive,” Bamford said of Chimarro. “She isn’t afraid. … And, again, the work effort, the work – every single one of them gave me everything on that field. And that’s what we’ve asked for since Day One.”

 

Taconic (1-9-1) hosts Smith Academy on Wednesday.

 

Lee (1-6) hosts McCann Tech on Monday.

 

Photos from this game here.