Girls’ Soccer Faces Tough Competition
On Saturday, the girls’ varsity soccer team (“Soxie”) travelled to Wallingford, Connecticut, to face Choate in the second official game of the year. Despite its valiant efforts, Soxie was unable to overcome its opponent, falling to Choate with a final score of 0-7. This game brought the season’s current record to 0-2.
Going into the game, the team was aware of Choate’s reputation of having a strong soccer program. However, senior and co-captain Anna Reaman stressed her team’s ability to stay level-headed and unfazed leading up to the game. “Going into the game, we knew that Choate is one of strongest teams we’ll face this season. However, we managed to stay upbeat and determined,” Reaman said. Upper Juliana Merullo explained the team’s attitude of responding to adversity with positivity. “We just put our all into practice on Thursday trying to work on playing as a team against good opponents,” Merullo added.
Throughout the game, Big Red encountered many challenges. According to members of the team, the three hour bus ride and hot weather was detrimental to the team’s performance. However, Reaman said that the team persevered through these uncontrollable factors. Senior and co-captain Lauren Arkell agreed with Reaman and added that the team “never gave up” at any point in the game regardless of how tired the players felt.
The team got off to a slow start in the game. Unfortunately, this set the tone for the rest of the game as Soxie’s defense was pressured throughout the match without many opportunities to go on the offense. Merullo explained that this game opened the team’s eyes to how important it is to start the game aggressively. “I thought that we definitely improved on defending set plays and our communication, but we still had problems sustaining offensive attacks, in order to score and give our defense a break,” she said.
Arkell also discussed her hopes for the team to improve its teamwork and cooperation. “We all get along so well off the fields but we can’t seem connect on the field,” she said.
Arkell recalled the inspiration she received from Jason Kuhn from the Stonewall Solutions program in the beginning of the year. She explained that Kuhn discussed the importance of being supportive teammates by boosting the team’s morale. “He told us that you’re never just cheering for yourself, you’re cheering for your teammates and making sure they know you’re playing for them,” she added.
Despite the loss, Merullo expressed her optimism and belief that the team will learn from this game and improve in the near future.
“I know that this game isn’t going to define our season, because we are constantly looking to improve and use our past failures to motivate us in the future!” she exclaimed. Reaman echoed Merullo’s sentiments, discussing the team’s excitement to perform better at future games. “This game was definitely challenging but it helped us identify what we can work on,” she said.
Soxie will be playing in two games this week. On Wednesday, the team will travel to Brooks. On Saturday, Exeter will host Deerfield for the team’s second home game of the season. With a home turf advantage, Soxie will be looking to redeem themselves with strong performances.