Southington Girls Soccer Looking To Captains For Playoff Push
- Dan Fappiano
- Sep 18
- 7 min read
Southington High School girls soccer is well aware of how difficult it is to make the Class LL State Tournament. But the Blue Knights aren’t shying away from the challenge, despite seeing numerous players graduate from the program.
Those who remain include Southington’s four senior captains for the 2025 season: Emily Bafuma, Emily Boucher, Gianna Mathews and Abbie Patavino. As the Blue Knights go through their campaign, head coach Megan Kavanaugh is relying on the captains to lead the next wave of Blue Knights.
“We had a lot of seniors graduate last year. We’re looking for a whole new set of leaders. We have a group of captains working collectively to lead a group that’s really young,” Kavanaugh said. “We know we’re going to have moments when that inexperience is going to show. We’re going to rely on our four captains to help us through those moments.”
Bafuma and Mathews, alongside their fellow captains, understand how crucial their role is. For Mathews it is important to ensure that the upperclassmen are reassuring the new players. She understands that it can be stressful playing on the varsity field for the first time. For her part, Bafuma thinks that will only improve the team’s chemistry. While they haven’t been playing together long, the senior captain has already seen the Blue Knights grow off the field as much as on.
“A big thing is our camaraderie. This season I feel like our team is very close. Everyone is very friendly,” Bafuma said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh you’re a freshman. You can’t speak up.” Everyone is very unified and gets along and that translates to the field with our play. That’s really important for a successful team.”
The summer offered the Blue Knights an early chance to build their bond as Southington conditioned together and played on the same team. Bafuma noted that the squad felt more comfortable playing together after getting in more reps. Furthermore, the conditioning had them prepared to take on a full 80-minute game.
Mathews echoed that sentiment – she didn’t mind the rigorous conditioning program. Ultimately, she just wanted to see herself and her team grow stronger while entering her senior season.
“We’ve been practicing and conditioning all summer,” Mathews said. “The summer leading up to now was a big stepping stone. We conditioned three times a week. It really helped us get that chemistry together.”
Still, no matter how much preparation goes into the season, Kavanaugh knows things won’t be perfect from day one. There is a process to success. Yet if all goes to plan, she is hopeful the Blue Knights will be playing at their highest level come the end of the campaign.
“No season is going to be perfect,” Kavanaugh said. “We want to keep building. We want to be in the position where we’re firing on all cylinders in October.”
Southington’s Fearsome Freshmen
While the four senior captains will play a major role in leading the team, Southington also has a pair of freshmen in crucial starting roles. Shayla Cassidy is the starting goalkeeper while Taylor Bannon is the starting center back.
As Kavanaugh put it, “you don’t earn a varsity starting spot unless you work your tail off.” And that’s exactly what Cassidy and Bannon did. They won’t be left on their own on the field; Kavanaugh knows the senior class will help them acclimate. Still, after earning their spots, the freshman will play pivotal roles for Southington during their first year in the program.
“Those are some of the most difficult positions to play on the field mentally,” Kavanaugh said. “We’re asking a lot of 14-year-olds. They’ve handled themselves very well. They’ve been really mature in this transition. They’ve relied on their upperclassmen to give them advice and lead them through it. They have high expectations of themselves, which helps. Their work rate is insane, and that’s why they’ve earned this spot.”
For Cassidy, Bannon and the whole group of underclassmen, Kavanaugh understands there may be growing pains at first. But she expects each player to continue to improve as the year goes by. Kavanaugh remains confident in that growth and knows her team will look much different at the end of the season.
“We’re technical on the ball. We know we can combine with each other. But we’re working to connect those pieces,” Kavanaugh said. “Because we’re young we have a lot of players who haven’t played together yet. So they’re still trying to learn what each of the others does. The more games we play, the more we’ll click on the field. With the chemistry we have off the field, you can see it coming together.”
“It’s going to come. It takes a little while to get to the point where we want it to be,” Kavanaugh continued. “I’d rather be in a position where I know we’re going to grow and improve. That gives you something to look forward to as the season goes on.”
Blue Knights Show Potential against E.O. Smith
Southington opened their season with a 3-0 win over Maloney on September 2. Patavino, junior Alannah Terry and sophomore Maddy Boucher all had goals. Sophomore Audriana Moscibrodskzi had a pair of assists while Mathews had one. Cassidy made three saves.
Then the Blue Knights went on a bit of a cold spell, losing their next two games to Simsbury (3-0) and Enfield (4-2). In their third straight home game against E.O. Smith on Sept 12, Southington wanted to make a statement. Kavanaugh said the team had worked on setting consistent work rate goals and playing a full 80 minutes amongst all position groups.
At the end of the first half both teams remained knotted in a zero-zero tie. But after the break, the Blue Knights came out firing. They were consistently on E.O. Smith’s side of the field and cashed in on a Bafuma goal with 36:57 left in the half. Then, sophomore Nadia Imme would find the top right corner on a free kick from 20 yards out with 24:17 to play. Southington held on to win 2-0.
Mathews knew that, given how the team had been playing, effort would make the difference between winning or losing the game. Bafuma was focused on keeping the forwards high and pressing together as a team. That teamwork ultimately produced the game-deciding goal.
It wasn’t just the scoreless tie that led to Southington’s aggressiveness. That’s how the Blue Knights want to start every half. Their squad may be young, but if they can cause chaos for the opposing team, they know they’ll pose a real challenge every match.
“We always aim to start every half putting the other team under pressure,” Kavanaugh said. “There are some days we can do that successfully and there are some days where it doesn’t work the way we want it to. They were able to get a lot of pressure early, because we got fresh legs in.”
Southington lost their next game on September 15 to East Catholic, 4-0. Yet they’ll have an opportunity to bounce back at home against RHAM on September 18. No matter the competition, Kavanaugh knows the Blue Knights must look at each game as a speed bump on their path to success.
“We just have to keep building,” Kavanaugh said. “We have to know that the next game is going to be better than the game we just played. If we can make every game a little bit better, then I have all the confidence in the world that we’ll be in the position we want to be in. That commitment happens every day in practice. We don’t just get better by showing up every day in the games. We’ve got to get better in practice, which will make us better in games.”
Southington Eyeing State Tournament
Southington entered the 2024 Class LL State Tournament as the No. 28 seed, falling to No. 5 Hall, 1-0. This year they’re looking not just to advance to the tournament, but to make it further than they had last year.
For Bafuma, that will require Southington to keep their spirits up. Their chemistry is growing each game. Hard times cannot detract from that growth; the Blue Knights must play together as one.
Kavanaugh is well aware of the expectations the team has placed on themselves – Class LL features some of the best teams in the state. But when asked about Southington’s ability to battle in the division, Kavanaugh offered a pair of questions in retort.
“Why not? Why can’t we compete with them?” Kavanaugh asked.
To follow through on that goal, however, the Blue Knights must be able to learn and adapt after each match, regardless of outcome. If Southington gives their all on the field, Kavanaugh is confident they’ll succeed.
“We finish a game and we’re happy with the results of what we played. We battled,” Kavanaugh said of what defines Southington girls soccer success. “LL is a really tough place to be. We know qualifying for the tournament is hard. But success in that tournament is even harder. We want to get to it so that we can compete with some of the best teams in the state.”
With such a young squad, Bafuma and Mathews are looking to set a strong example. They understand what makes Southington click, whether it be their dedication or just “making those connections with people off the field,” as Bafuma put it.
Mathews knows the captains must lead by example as much as by their words. They’ve worn Southington across their chests with pride. If they continue to do so, and show what it means to be and play like Blue Knights, Mathews knows Southington girls soccer is in a good place.
“Our attitudes as captains reflect the team,” Mathews said. “If we’re down, they’re down, if we’re happy, the team’s happy. On and off the field, our attitudes really show. As long as we carry ourselves well as Blue Knights, I think our team will succeed as well.”
The 2025 Southington girls soccer team features seniors: Maddie Landry, Abbie Patavino, Emily Bafuma, Gianna Mathews, Trinity Muro, Emma Silverman and Emily Boucher; juniors: Melody Muro and Alannah Terry; sophomores: Maddy Boucher, Nadia Imme, Lucia Muro, Audriana Moscibrodzki and Trisha Corrado; alongside freshmen: Taylor Bannon, Shayla Cassidy, Alexa Kielbowicz, Emerson Rose and Chloe Rosemond. Kavanaugh is joined by varsity assistant coach Allison Madden.
For more SHS Girls Soccer photography see NMR Photography.
