For years, the Walpole High Girls Soccer Team had seasons that continuously fell short. After a four-year drought from the postseason, the team earned themselves a tournament berth in their 2011 season with a record of 11-5-1. After a disappointing loss in the first round, the girls looked ahead to improve in their 2012 season. But, after graduating 12 seniors—including eight starting players—the underclassmen know they would have some big shoes to fill.
Returning starters Seana Cofsky, Ella McMackin—who are both senior captains— and junior Lauren Regan have taken over main roles offensively, defensively, and in the midfield. Senior Captain Seana Cofsky has moved in from outside midfield to center midfield and is now in charge of controlling the center and starting the offense. Senior Captain Ella McMackin, last year’s leading scorer, has returned to her spot at center forward and has already tallied two goals in their first four games. Junior Lauren Regan, previously the team’s leading scorer her freshman year, has made the transition to stopper and is responsible for keeping the ball out of the defensive end.
Stepping up to fill the remaining starting positions in the defense are freshman Kaitlin Brown, sophomores Abby McMackin and Annie Gallivan, and junior Mehron Hoag. In the midfield are junior Karalyn Kickham and senior Joanna Haswell, with sophomore Stephanie Lund and senior Emma Comiskey completing the offense. Notably are Brown, moving in to fill the goalkeeper position, the junior McMackin taking over the defense as sweeper, and Comiskey returning from three seasons off with a torn ACL.
Their inexperience showed in their first outing against Natick when they came out and struggled to stay organized defensively, but were able readjust and send the senior McMackin a long ball through Natick’s defense for the first goal of the game. Shortly after, Natick’s offense retaliated and was able to put one in the back of the net. Natick’s good fortune did not last long, however, as Lund scored her first varsity goal off of an assist from the older McMackin. After Natick tallied two more goals to make the score 3-2 in their favor, Cofsky buried a penalty kick for Walpole in the back corner of the net after Comiskey was fouled in the box. Cofsky said, “Although we would have liked to get a win and saw some things that we need to improve on, we definitely showed that despite graduating so many players, we are still going to be a strong team if we continue to play together.”
Following a 2-1 loss to Newton North and a 1-1 tie with Wellesley, the team was able to capture their first win against Brookline on Thursday. About 12 minutes into the game, Walpole’s offense came alive with Regan, transitioning from stopper to forward, scoring her first goal of the season off of a rebound from Hoag’s previous shot. Taking an early lead proved to be just what the Rebels needed, as they continued the game with few defensive break downs and a number of dangerous scoring opportunities from Ella McMackin and freshman Lisa Regan.
The girls do not know how the new starters will influence the success of this year’s team, but with four points through four games already, the team figures to make the tournament and vindicate last year’s disappointing playoff loss.
