BULLET YOUNGSTERS LEAD CHARGE AGAINST VUHS
Story and Photos by Ben Kaufmann
FAIRFAX- A talented freshman trio made a statement to start BFA-Fairfax’s 2021 season, registering four goals in Tuesday’s 6-1 rout of visiting Vergennes.
Ava Ardovino scored twice, including a penalty kick with the game still scoreless in the first half, and Emma Spiller and Paige Cargill each scored a highlight-reel goal in the second half to pace what is ultimately a veteran Bullet (1-0) squad against the Commodores (0-1).
“I’m excited for this season because I have 11 seniors, all veterans and all capable of playing varsity level,” said Fairfax coach Jojo Lynch. “And now they’re being pushed by the freshmen, and I love it.”
Senior Molly Wimette tallied BFA’s remaining two goals on the afternoon and Cargill, Ardovino, Marie Larose and Raegan Decker each added an assist. Senior goalie Kamryn Taylor made five stops, mostly in the second half, and yielded only a solitary goal on a fluky high shot into the sun with her Bullets already ahead 5-0.
“Kamryn played phenomenal today, too,” Lynch said. “I’m psyched that it’s her senior year and she gets to really shine.”
There was no doubt entering the season that BFA would have veteran firepower. Taylor is directly protected by senior defensive standouts Kali Wooster, Emmi Sturm and Larose as well as junior Faith Benjamin. Wimette leads a strong midfield and Bridgett Dunn (Sr.) and Decker (Jr.) were always going to cause headaches for opponents in the offensive third. The additions of Ardovino and Spiller up front and Cargill as a defensive midfielder with a deadly service game make these Bullets a real contender.
“I don’t want to jinx us, but we have some extreme young talent on this team this year,” said Lynch. “Obviously they played lights-out today. I was surprised pleasantly because the nerves were there but the three of them stepped up and really played well.”
It’s telling of the faith Lynch has in her rookies, as well as the way the older players have accepted their new teammates, that BFA’s most important set pieces were taken by freshmen. Ardovino calmly buried her team’s first penalty kick of the season into the lower-right corner to give her squad an early 1-0 lead and Cargill took every corner earned while she was on the field Tuesday, somehow bending one straight into goal for BFA’s final goal of the day.
Cargill’s service game, even before the corner-kick goal, was the high point of an excellent day for the Bullets against Vergennes. She tried a 40-yard free kick when Vergennes’ goalie was staring at the sun in the first half and forced a challenging save then watched a corner just miss the head of Decker before placing her next corner where Ardovino could one-time it in to give BFA a 2-0 lead. The only thing close to a miscue for Cargill all day came when she groaned after hitting her final corner, she thought she’d wasted a kick but the ball ended up rolling around the near post for a goal.
“That has been our biggest asset to this season,” Lynch said of Cargill’s service game. “In practice she does it, she does it in games, the best part of it is her confidence level. She just goes out and gets it done and I think today she really stepped up big.”
Just about everything looked right Tuesday for a BFA team which would have been forgiven if it needed a few games to gel. Entering the second half with just a 2-0 lead, Ardovino led Wimette into the box on BFA’s first possession and yelled for the junior to shoot. Wimette obliged and gave the hosts a 3-0 lead with just 42 seconds gone. Less than a minute later, a fine cross from Larose was blasted in by Spiller to dash any Vergennes hope. Decker crossed to Wimette five minutes later and watched as her classmate took a few deft touches and punched in Fairfax’s fifth goal of the day.
BFA gets an ideal setup to start the season, following Tuesday’s game with three more home contests before hitting the road for the first time on September 21st. Up next is Hazen on Friday, 9/10.
