It's not often a team comes up with a pregame scouting report during pregame warmups. But that is exactly what Vanguard center midfielder Avery Ausley said happened prior to her team's 5-1 victory against host Forest in Friday night's final of the MCIAC girls soccer tournament.

They noticed the Wildcats' talented keeper Allannah Connolly was playing aggressively, coming out to challenge rather than staying back to read the opposing attackers.

"We knew we should take shots early," Ausley said.

Doing so proved successful, as Ausley, one of the county's top scorers, netted goals in the eighth, 19th and 39th minute, and Madison Cathey added another in the 37th minute. All came from from at least 17 yards out, as top-seeded VHS entered the halftime break with a 4-0 lead.

Each goal either found a corner as Connolly moved forward, or in the case of Cathey's blast from 20 yards, was a perfectly placed shot just inches below the upper crossbar.

At other moments, like three times the Knights (13-5) had either a 2-on-1 or a 1-on-1 advantage, Connolly's boldness worked, as she made stops on each.

"We attacked her, but she kept a lot of goals out of the net with her extremely brave play," Vanguard coach Bryan Giles said.

The second half saw VHS go up 5-0 in the 51st minute after Connolly dove to stop a penalty kick by Isabella Mizzoni. But the ball bounced away from Connolly, and Mizzoni alertly knocked in the rebound.

Second-seeded Forest (8-10) got a goal from Caroline Daniels eight minutes later to give the contest its final margin.

Giles said he was particularly happy with his team's play, as early in the week the Knights had a practice where many players had their "focus elsewhere." But they came together to win the MCIAC.

"This is really nice," said Giles, who complimented his team's ability to maximize possessions against the Wildcats. "This is the first county tournament, and we were able to win it."