Defending champion Lewis Mills advances with shutout win over Barlow

Lewis Mills’ Samantha Harding (11) looks to pass to a teammate during Friday’s CIAC Class M girls soccer tournament game against Joel Barlow at Nassahegan Field. (Photo courtesy Steve Barlow)

By STEVE BARLOW
Special to The Collinsville Press
BURLINGTON, Nov. 7, 2025 – The first goal came so quickly that the spectators seated beneath the tall evergreens swaying in the wind had barely even had time to shiver at a chilly Nassahegan Field.

In fact, not even a full minute of play had elapsed Friday evening before senior striker Lily Castle put the Lewis Mills High School girls soccer team on the scoreboard in its Class M state tournament game against Joel Barlow.

Freshman Leah Najman added two more goals in the Spartans’ eventual 3-0 win, but with the way the defense has been performing in the postseason, Castle’s score was all that was needed to send eighth-seeded Mills on to the semifinals.

In three tournament wins – which, by the way, stretch the defending Class M state champions’ string of CIAC wins to eight – the Spartans have scored a total of 11 goals while allowing none. That’s right, a big, fat goose egg.

“We defend as a team right from the top. We press well as a team, and the back four is terrific,” said coach Quentin Lux. “And we have an amazing keeper, too. (Anna Henry) is one of the best around.”

Henry finished with nine saves, while her Barlow counterpart, Sophia Bianco, made 10. Some of Henry’s stops were gems, and she could also count on her back line of Sophia Serrano, Sadie Aston, Payton Hallet and Olivia Brunetti to sweep aside Barlow threats.

“We all have great chemistry. We make sure everybody is on task,” said Serrano, a junior center back. “We all talk to each other and make sure we’re organized.”

The offense for Mills (16-4) wasn’t half-bad, either. The Spartans jumped on Barlow (8-5-3) only 57 seconds into the match as Castle took a long pass from Brunetti on the right side and slammed a shot into the far side of the net.

“Beginning of the game, we made sure everyone had a really forward mindset. We wanted to go at them really intense,” said Castle. “Liv played a really good through ball. I just shot it. I knew the goalie was out of her line and the goal was open.”
The quickness of the first goal was a stunner, and so was the timing of the second. With only 46 seconds left in the first half, senior Jill Tiso fed the ball to Najman in the middle of the box. She turned and popped the ball over a defender. Bianco got her hands on it, but not enough to stop the ball from bounding into the net.

“The defense was spread out, and I went through the gap,” said Najman. “Jill played a great ball.”

On the third goal, which came seven minutes into the second half, senior Samantha Harding passed to Najman, who one-timed the ball into the goal from 20 yards out.

In next week’s semifinal, at a site and time to be determined, Mills will face a familiar foe in Central Connecticut Conference rival Northwest Catholic. It’s a rematch of last year’s state final won by Mills, 2-1. This season, the two teams split, with Northwest Catholic claiming the regular season finale, 2-1.

“When the (CIAC) brackets came out, we knew we had work to do to get to the semis,” said Lux. “With the way the regular season ended, we’d love another chance at them. We’ve seen them a lot, but we’re looking forward to seeing them again.”

Lewis Mills 3, Joel Barlow 0
At Burlington
Joel Barlow (8-5-3)   0 0 – 0
Lewis Mills (16-4)      2 1 – 3
Goals: Lily Castle 1, Leah Najman 2. Assists: Olivia Brunetti 1, Jill Tiso 1, Samantha Harding 1. Goalie saves: Anna Henry (LM) 9. Sophia Bianco (10). Records: Mills 16-4, Barlow 8-5-3.