Soxie Secures Clean Sheet and Win Against NMH

EXETER - Girls’ varsity soccer earned a hard-fought victory from NMH on Saturday, making both players and parents proud. The squad took a commanding lead early in the game with goals from prep Margaret Coogan and lower Jacie Lemos. Coogan scored the first goal of the game with 11:17 left to halftime, which was followed by another goal from Lemos two minutes later.The strong start in the beginning of the game gave Big Red confidence and strength to defend against NMH.“The early goals were really good because for the rest of the game we had something to fight for,” Lemos said. “We played a really defensive game, especially after the goals, because we were more focused on not letting them score than on scoring ourselves.”“Coach told us before the game that if we focused on maintaining a tight defense and keeping NMH out of our net, the goals would come,” upper Kelly McCarthy said. “They did.”“The early goals definitely brought the energy of the game up,” Coogan agreed. “Since our season hasn’t been going as perfectly as we pleased, I think the two goals acted as a confidence boost. We knew from then on we had to work very hard to keep our place and not let them come back on us.”Communication was especially important in maintaining control of the game. “Our team is very young this year and all the seniors definitely help to keep control throughout the game. Having our captain, Susannah, and the other seniors give us pointers on the field is really key to our playing,” Coogan said. “We know that soccer is the type of sport that any team could come back and really kick it in the second half.”“I think we stayed in control because our communication was great, especially on defense,” Lemos said. “We were always telling each other to mark the open player.”“The early goals helped a lot because they gave us a confidence boost that helped us maintain the same strength we came out with,” McCarthy said. “We haven’t had much of that this season, so it definitely made a difference that we were fighting to keep a lead rather than to make up for lost time.”The girls will hope to come up with another victory against Kimball Union Academy at home on Saturday.