Big Red Girls’ Soccer Ties Brewster
This past Saturday, Girls’ Varsity Soccer matched up against Brewster Academy. Coming in with a fierce mindset, Exeter fought hard and tied, with a final score of 2–2.
Going into the game, the team had one strategy. Attack. “The last time we played Brewster, we felt like we could’ve won, and we didn’t feel as if we did as well as we could have. We were trying to make up for that,” said upper Mei Li Hart.
Senior Robin Potter echoed Hart. “I think there is a little bit of a sense of redemption, like ‘we know we can play against these guys and get some goals.’”
After playing against Brewster the previous year, upper Evie Houston noted that the team tried to work on specific plays that would give them a chance to win. “We knew that it was going to be a tough game. They are a very physical team, but we have the speed as an advantage, so we worked on plays that would make use of that,” she said.
Although the game was tough, there were many people in the team who stepped up and stood out. “Prep Ryan Pate has really been solid on outside defense. She wins almost every tackle and carries the ball forward with composure,” said Potter.
Another player who stood out was lower Kaylee Bennett, who has played on the varsity team for two years now. “Kaylee did a great job on the wings. She dominated the right side of the second half and was really able to get the ball up and across,” said Hart.
Postgraduate Sky Woodard also complimented Houston on her outstanding play. “A highlight during the game would be Evie’s run. She managed to get the ball behind the half way mark and ran it all the way down towards their goal while managing to get a cross off,” she said.
Treadwell highlighted the amazing teamwork shown by GV Soccer. “When Frankie took a corner and it went through everyone in the 18 yard box, it went straight to Ali and she kicked it into the goal” said lower Cecilia Treadwell.
Overall the team dynamic is very strong both on and off the field, according to Woodard. “Everyone is friendly and caring towards one another while at the same time being able to hold the other to a high standard,” she said. “[We are] always pushing each other to be better. We always hold each other accountable during practices because we all want what’s best for the team.”
Indeed, the improvements are showing. Hart noted that in previous games last year, they had trouble creating opportunities to get shots in the goal. In contrast, she noted of their most recent game, “we had about 28 [opportunities] and they had 4. We definitely created those opportunities and now we can work on finishing them.”
Houston described the two goals as the highlights of the game. “Our two goals were both beautiful, one of them being a quick goal from Marymegan Wright. Scoring was a huge deal because that’s been one of the hardest things for us so far.”
But it’s not over yet. With fourteen games left, Girls' Varsity Soccer has many opportunities to score a win. Houston expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming game against Holderness School. “Next game, I’m really looking forward to playing Holderness because we had a great win last year, and this year we are even better. We are looking forward to having some momentum to carry us through a tough game against [Buckingham Brown and Nichols School] on Saturday.”
Finally, Hart believes this season will be even better than last year’s. “I know that our record before wasn’t as good. But I think it’s really exciting—we're building a new road, paving our own way. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of teams.”