Dave Phillips/GameTimeCT East Haven’s Megan Kikosicki, left, is the 2015 GameTimeCT/NH Register Area Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
2015 All Area Soccer MVP Megan Kikosicki, East Haven. (Peter Hvizdak – New Haven Register)
Scoring goals this season wasn’t going to be an issue for Megan Kikosicki. The East Haven senior had done plenty of that over her first three years in the program.
The questions would be: how many and how often would Kikosicki score against defenses designed to try and stop her? The answers proved to be the same: plenty.
Kikosicki, the New Haven Register’s Area MVP for girls soccer, finished with 32 goals and seven assists for the Yellowjackets, who scored just 40 goals this entire season. That means Kikosicki factored into 97.5 percent of East Haven’s offense.
“Obviously, we would liked to have been more balanced,” East Haven coach Ray Curren said. “It’s one thing if she did that and we didn’t win, but to do that and to set all the records we set is pretty amazing.”
Yes, the Yellowjackets set plenty of records this past season – all of which were preseason team goals. First, they wanted to win their first division title outright, and they did so, capturing the Southern Connecticut Conference Oronoque Division crown.
“We were all very excited,” Kikosicki said. “There were people always saying, ‘It’s East Haven.’ People didn’t think we could win.”
But win East Haven did, finishing with 12 victories, the most in school history. The goal was to reach double digits.
“When you look at it, a lot of our games could have gone either way,” Curren said. “I think they knew coming off last year that almost everyone was back and they knew what they could do.”
The Yellowjackets qualified for the SCC tournament for the first time ever and took eventual champion Shelton to overtime before being eliminated 3-2. Kikosicki scored both goals, putting East Haven up 2-1.
Then came the team’s ultimate goal – winning its first state tournament game. East Haven did, beating Bristol Eastern 4-2.
“When people look back, they will know who we all were and future teams will try to do better than we did,” Kikosicki said. “Everybody stepped up. We all wanted to be remembered for having a winning record and being a part of (school) history.”
Kikosicki was also recognized as the SCC and Greater New Haven Soccer Officials Association Player of the Year. She was also a four-time All-SCC Oronoque Division and three three-time coaches all-state selection.
Keep in mind Kikosicki was able to accomplish all she did with players keying on her at all times. Double- and triple-teams were not uncommon for the 5-foot-10 forward to face.
And there was also the stretch, after East Haven won its first seven games, when the team was shut out by Sheehan and Sacred Heart Academy, then tied North Branford and Branford, two teams it had shut out previously.
“This year, Megan knew what would happen. She had to deal with it and stay mentally tough when things got rough and people keyed on her,” Curren said.
Now it’s onto the University of New Hampshire. She will officially sign her national letter of intent to play for the Wildcats next fall in February, when she will turn 18.
Kikosicki intends to major in business administration, with a focus in accounting.
“I hope to work hard and get better before I get there so I can play,” Kikosicki said. “I think I can still get faster and stronger and clean up my skills. You always can use improvement.”
And that leaves East Haven with a huge void to fill.
“I came here when Megan came here. It will be a new world without her,” Curren said. “From the time she was a freshman, I knew she would step right in and play. … It will be a different team, but there should be some motivation for the kids coming back.”
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