Big Red Girls’ Soccer Falls to Milton
After a hard-fought game with glimpses of glory throughout, Exeter Girls’ Varsity Soccer, unfortunately, left its away game against Milton Academy with a loss—the final score: 3-0, Milton. With Head Coach Alexa Caldwell and talented teammates including upper Marymegan Wright and lower Kaylee Bennett missing in action, the team faced the first away game in three weeks with confidence, but in the end, were unable to deliver a consistent attack against Milton.
Heading into their game, the team was focused and confident in its matchup against Milton, according to upper Evie Houston. “While we had a lot of goals as to how we wanted to play against Milton, I think it just came down to a goal of wanting to win. We believed that Milton was an opponent that was beatable, if we came out strong and played how we know we could.” More specifically, senior and captain Denesha Rolle explained that “We were looking to possess and switch the field by using our central midfielders. We also tried to force them to play the ball out of the back with heavy pressure from our offense.”
In the end, however, it came down to moments of greatness followed by one too many moments of weakness. “One thing that has challenged us this year is consistency. There were a lot of moments where we looked strong and could have possibly scored, but it all came down to finishing in the final third of the field, another thing that we’ve been working on this season,” Houston said. “We held our own but we had three breakdowns and were scored on three times, which isn’t acceptable,” Rolle said. She continued by adding that, more positively, “Our goal of remaining composed and committed to the style of play that we practice was achieved, I thought, as we were diligent in our attacking efforts.” Similarly, Houston didn’t view the game as a determining description of the team’s possibility for the rest of the season. “As it’s still early in the season, just gaining familiarity with how everybody plays and how the coaches coach will only make our team stronger,” she said.
Moments of great performance we accredited to a few specific players as well. “I think that our prep, Ryan Pate, played really well,” Rolle said. Houston also highlighted upper Audrey Park’s contributions, saying “I think one really standout performance was Audrey Park, who did a really great job on defense, playing in the center with Ali Hanlon. She stepped up when we needed her, and it would’ve been a very different game had she not been in.” Houston also highlighted that overall, “Soxie” has “had to become comfortable with playing different positions.”
The team is now looking back on the game to discern areas for improvement and work hard from there. Upper Abby Asch explained it was not a matter of effort, but rather execution that ended up costing the team the game. “We put up a good fight but we need to continue to work on our finishing on offense and communication on the field,” she said. “Finishing is always a struggle for us,” Rolle agreed. Houston also pointed to the mental side of the game, saying “this was one of the first away games that we’ve had a while, and while this is not at all an excuse, soccer is just as much a mental game as it is physical, so it could have affected us.”
For the future, the team hopes to make their input of energy and effort match the output. As Rolle said, “We need to put the ball in the net and to feel like the result of the game is an accurate representation of how we played.” Houston stated their goal simply: “Winning, winning, winning,” before continuing on to say “I know it sounds kind of cliche, but it really just comes down to winning. Playoffs are at the back of our minds, and it would be awesome to finish the season strong.” And looking back at the past years in true Exonian fashion, Houston finished by highlighting that “Andover is something that we are all looking forward to as well, as we have tied then two years in a row!” So be sure to keep an eye on Soxie as they head into the rest of their season leading up to E/a.