The Bronxville girls soccer team won its signature regular season event on Sept. 18, topping visiting New Rochelle 5-0 in the Broncofest finale. But although the final score may have indicated a one-sided romp for the Broncos, it took a monumental second-half surge for the hosts to come away with the victory. 

Last fall, the Class AA Huguenots enjoyed a deep postseason run that took them to the Lower Westchester Large School semifinals, where they would eventually fall to runner-up Scarsdale. Conversely, the Class B Broncos came into the year as the reigning Small School champions. And for the first 40 minutes of Sunday’s contest, it appeared as though the two teams were evenly matched, trading scoring chances throughout the first half before heading into the intermission locked in a scoreless tie.

But it didn’t take long for the Broncos to explode in the second half, as senior standout Lily Jebejian found the net twice in the first eight minutes of play, sparking a Bronxville run that would effectively put the game out of reach. 

“That first goal definitely helped, especially because it came so early in the half,” said Jebejian. “I think that gave us a lot of confidence.”

Jebejian’s two goals, along with tallies by Maddy Stupart, Lily Crystal and Amy Villanueva were indicative of the Broncos’ second-half prowess, something that Jebejian said has been a focal point for the team this year.

“We’ve been working a lot on our fitness, that’s been a big part of practice, recently,” said the senior. “I think that gave us an edge in the second half and we just started to find our rhythm.”

Something else that helped, claimed Jebejian, was getting the chance to play in front of a home crowd for the first time in well over a year. Last fall, Coronavirus restrictions limited the number of spectators for outdoor fall events, and flood damage to the turf field as a result of Hurricane Ida prevented the Broncos from hosting a home game until Saturday afternoon. 

“This was our first home game this year, our first home game in front of fans in a long time,” said Jebejian. “It was awesome.”

At 3-0-1, the Broncos will look to continue their winning ways this week when they take on Croton-Harmon, Westlake and Dobbs Ferry. The Huguenots—who dropped to 1-2-1 with the loss—hope to bounce back with tilts against North Rockland, Suffern and John Jay on the schedule.

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