Spurred on by a two-goal performance from Beacon junior and forward Caroline Quigley, the Beacon High School Blue Demons defeated the Stuyvesant Mimbas 3-1 in a hard fought match between the Manhattan A-II Division’s top teams.

Quigley took advantage of an uncharacteristically shaky Mimba defense to score a goal in each half, bringing her total goals on the season to five. Freshman Alexandra Easton added a goal to make it 2-0 at the half, before Stuyvesant’s captain, senior Morgan Browning made it 2-1 just after halftime.

Beacon got off to a quick start, dominating the early possessions and jumping out to a lead in the first minute thanks to one of Quigley’s goals, slotting home sophomore midfielder Sophia Kligler’s cross from six yards out. Not content with their early lead, the defending city champions continued their attack, as Kligler continued her brilliant play on the left wing, putting in another cross a minute later, though this one was easily gathered by Stuyvesant goalkeeper Monika Rozkowska.

The Mimbas gathered themselves and put together their first attack in the third minute, as senior Gabrielle Beer, fresh off a hat-trick against LaGuardia High School in Stuyvesant’s last game on Monday, April 27, combined on a beautiful one-two with Browning, only to see her left footed shot saved by Beacon keeper, junior Eleanor Barr.

However, Stuyvesant soon found itself down 2-0, thanks to Easton’s goal, with Kligler again providing the cross. Rozkowska was unable to do anything about the seventh minute goal, as Easton blasted the ball into the roof, an unstoppable shot.

“We just weren’t aggressive enough in the first half. They were outright beating us to the ball, and when I made a slight adjustment, I told them we needed to be more aggressive, they did make that adjustment, but unfortunately it was just a little too late,” Mimba coach Suzanne Lendzian said.

Still, the Mimbas displayed comeback potential, as their midfield play grew stronger. They earned their first corner with 21 minutes gone in the first half. Beer flashed her delivery across the face of the goal. However, no one was able to get a foot to the corner, wasting the chance. But the Mimbas kept up the pressure as senior Elisa Muyl saw her volley deflected away off another corner from Beer only three minutes later.

Just as Stuyvesant had begun to gain control, they were pegged back when junior forward Marantha Dawkins went down with a knee injury. Following a great turn into space in the penalty area, Dawkins mis-hit her shot and went tumbling to the ground, clutching her left knee. Play was stopped, and she was helped off the pitch, to some courteous applause from the approximately sixty spectators gathered at the field.

Play resumed, and in the 36th minute, Beer was once again denied by a superb save by Barr, who also managed to tip away senior Grace Klein’s follow-up shot. The score remained 2-0 at the end of the first half.

Stuyvesant emerged from the break looking like a completely different team, and just after the kick-off, Browning stole the ball back from a bewildered Beacon midfield. Browning took the ball herself, finishing with a lovely left footed strike to revive the Mimbas. Roskowzka also did her part, denying Quigley and freshman forward Jennifer Angione from short range.

However, following the strong beginning to the second half, the Mimbas once more found themselves two goals down 20 minutes from full-time, as Quigley delivered another deadly finish to put the Lady Blue Demons up 3-1, the score which they held onto easily for the win.

After the game, Lendzian showed she still had faith in her team, despite the overall poor showing from the Mimbas. “I thought we came out a little bit flat today, and there are some slight adjustments I can make in our coaching philosophy to help us improve, and hopefully, next time, be successful over Beacon,” she said.

The teams next play Friday, May 15, in a game that will have direct implications on where they are both seated for the Public School Athletic League City Playoffs.