Varsity soccer pulls up Tonizzo for playoffs

Tonizzo dribbles away from a defender in the junior varsity game against T.C. Williams High School on April 20. The team won 4-3 with Tonizzo scoring the game winning goal.  Photo courtesy of Karen Espaldon
Tonizzo dribbles away from a defender in the junior varsity game against T.C. Williams High School on April 20. The team won 4-3 with Tonizzo scoring the game winning goal.The varsity girls soccer team called up junior varsity player Haley Tonizzo, a sophomore, as a backup for the team through the rest of the post-season.

“After our last practice, they just pulled me aside and said, ‘We’d like to have you on our team, just to sit on the bench with varsity since you had a really good season,’” Tonizzo said.

The offer is unofficial in nature, but grants Tonizzo the possibility of participating in varsity games if the need arises.

“When they told me I was pulled up, they said that they couldn’t guarantee me playing time but that they would try if they could,” Tonizzo said.

However, Tonizzo was put in the varsity game against Wakefield High School on May 16 during its final minutes and the team won 4-0.

“It was really surprising that I got to go in because everyone said players who get pulled up never actually get to play,” Tonizzo said. “It was really fun to get the varsity experience.”

She is appreciative of the opportunity and what it could potentially mean for her in the future in the program.

“I feel like it’s an honor, especially since I was the only one,” Tonizzo said. “It’s just that they’re paying attention to me so that maybe next year I’ll get pulled up.”

Tonizzo dribbles away from a defender in the junior varsity game against T.C. Williams High School on April 20. The team won 4-3, with Tonizzo scoring the game winning goal.