Girls' Soccer: Great Team Mentality

The girls’ varsity soccer team took a tough loss this Wednesday with the final score at 4-0. However, they were able to force a well fought game with the best of the best, last year’s defending champions, the Noble and Greenough School. Despite the loss, the team was definitely optimistic about their chances in the league this year after a tough battle.This result should send a message to the other teams in the league. Big Red’s varsity girls’ soccer team is hungry and ready for this new season to start. Despite the scoreboard not showing a positive result, the girls were optimistic that the effort that was shown in this game would carry on throughout the rest of the season.Captain and upper Charlotte Dillon was proud of her teammates for fighting hard until the final minutes. “The best part was how much effort everyone put in, playing like it was 0-0 till the final whistle,” she commented. “That makes me really optimistic about the season.”Lower Margaret Coogan also noticed that the team never gave up, even when they begin to start losing. Never giving up is a very important motto in soccer, and the girls’ varsity team displayed that saying to perfection. “I think coming out playing last years winning team is hard to do but our team kept our heads up the entire game. We played every minute with just as much effort as if it were the last two minutes of a tie game the whole time,” Coogan said.Even in the loss, several players stood out and performed well. Coogan appreciated captain Charlotte Dillon’s solid defense and constructive criticisms which were able to push her to work even harder during the match. “Charlotte Dillon was strong on defense, as usual, but also helped out the team a lot by communicating on the field,” Coogan explained. “Her constructive criticism really encourages me and everyone else.”Despite Dillon’s defense and the team’s overall solid play, there are still many things to work on for the rest of the season.Dillon believed that the organization and structure of the team on the field could have been a little better. Because the game was the first of the year, perfectly executed plays and cuts were not expected. However, the team believes that this should improve throughout the season. “I think our organization could improve, Nobles had a lot of off ball runs that, as a team, we didn't know how to handle,” Dillon noted. “But that is to be expected for a new team, especially such a young team.”In addition to the ball runs that the team needs to get used to, Coogan noted that the team chemistry could also be improved as the season goes on. As the team plays more and more games, the team chemistry will inevitably improve. “I think our team’s getting used to playing with each other right now and there was definitely a difference between the first half and second half,” she added. “Our off-the-field chemistry is great and we are working on channeling that onto the field.”Upper Hailey Hudson agreed with Dillon and Coogan and expressed her optimism for the rest of the upcoming season. She predicts that with the team’s great work ethic and improving chemistry, the season looks bright. “I think the team has some work to do, but our strong work ethic and chemistry will give us great success this season.”