With a first-year coach and a heavy reliance on an eighth-grader in the midfield, the Thayer Academy girls didn’t exactly follow a tried and true path to glory.
But there the Tigers were, celebrating a New England Class B championship on the field at Loomis Chaffee last month after Brittany Raphino’s strike in double-overtime lifted them past top-seeded Pomfret, 2-1, in the title game.
After a regular season marked by improvement on the pitch, on the stat sheet, and in the Independent School League standings, Thayer entered the New England tournament as the No. 2 seed, feeling it was playing with house money.
"That’s exactly how we felt," Thayer coach Nick Rugnetta said. "We said we had nothing to lose and whatever happens, happens.
"We’d chalked up the season to being a big success before the New England tournament started."
