The Wayland girls varsity soccer team had just come off of two straight blowout losses as they entered Tuesday night, looking to turn things around at home against Cambridge Rindge and Latin. CRL, in comparison to recent competition like Acton-Boxborough and Weston, was a significantly weaker team who were still looking for their first win. They would not get it Tuesday, as the Warriors came out on top 1-0.

The score didn’t reflect the dominance that the Warriors had throughout the game. They possessed well early on, with a handful of smart runs between the forwards that led to plenty of chances from corners. Both freshman Jackie Rainville and senior captain Lauren Medeiros came out swinging, attacking with energy and aggression. CRL eventually got more comfortable as the half went on, making runs more difficult.

On the defensive side of the ball, senior Sammy Johnson made her presence felt in the middle of the field. Because she directly affected traffic in the middle of the field, it was more than noticeable when she wasn’t in the game. The center back pairing of senior Eliya Howard-Delman and junior captain Samantha Tyska also made it difficult for CRL to gain any momentum. After starting off a bit slow, they remained steady as CRL began ramping up the pressure entering the second half.

The Warriors looked revitalized coming out of the half, with that same cast of characters leading the way. Early into the second half, Rainville had a corner that found Johnson in front of the net, only for her two shot attempts to get blocked and go over the goal. Medeiros would also have a strong cross shortly after, which was tapped just wide by a leaping Tyska.

As the game grew closer to its conclusion, the Warriors picked up the tempo even more to break the draw. The defense held, with sophomore Lily Mele adding to a strong effort as the team looked to push more on attack. In the waning minutes of the game, Rainville created multiple chances via corner kicks while Medeiros added an opportunity of her own with a strong free kick.

But it took until there was almost only five minutes left before they finally capitalized. Johnson corralled the ball in the center of the field, passing to Rainville who then led Medeiros perfectly with a pass that split the defense. Medeiros, with only the keeper to beat, put it in the back of the net to break the tie.

Despite some questionable reffing in the final minutes and some inconsistency throughout the game, the Warriors find themselves 2-2 heading into Thursday’s away game against Boston Latin. The hope is that they can get back to having a winning record, which they haven’t had since their first game of the season against Bedford.