On Tuesday, the JV girls soccer team hosted Northgate for their season finale and were able to secure a 2-1 victory, pushing their season record to 12-8 (Note to Ted Lasso, there were no ties).
The game got off to an inauspicious beginning as the Broncos scored a few minutes into the game as they were able to sneak behind the goalie and convert into an open net. After that point, the Dons defense shut down the Bronco offense. In fact, over the course of the entire season, the Dons defense only gave up a total of 21 goals, or just over 1 goal per game, which is a remarkable achievement. Congratulations to goalies Sophie Gold and Cate Mercier, and defenders Cassidy Smith, Ella Culbertson, Helena McGinley, Katelyn Weiss, Michaela Barbano, Maya Shinaman, and Edie Berzansky.
The midfield did an excellent job controlling possession and setting up the offense against the Broncos. Grace Colaco had a great play early in the second half where she stole the ball, juked a few defenders, and then caused the Broncos to get called for a penalty. Sometimes over the course of the season I didn’t mention this group enough because they weren’t scoring the goals or making the dramatic plays to prevent goals, but this group absolutely was critical to the success of the team. Congratulations to midfielders Evelyn Lee, Julia Munter, Kate Uffelman, Nina Bundy, Maddie Bernstein, and Grace C.
On offense, the team had multiple scoring opportunities in the first half against the Broncos that they couldn’t convert. Elodie Jensen had a great pass to Julia Munter that was called offsides, Caroline Tumilty had a nice through ball to Dani Green that missed just wide, Cassidy Smith had a throw in to Dani Green that she almost headed into the goal, Dani had a corner kick to Caroline that was deflected by the goalie. That changed in the second half, when the Dons got on the board early as Grace Eppinger scored on a booming breakaway kick that sailed over the goalie and into the net. Dani scored the second goal for the Dons on her patented Olympic goal (her third of the season) that caromed off the goalie on the corner kick to secure the victory. Congratulations to forwards Dani, Grace E., Caroline, Maya Shinaman, Julia Lyons, Elodie Jensen, and Lillian Polkinghorn (who we hope comes back healthy next season).
Following the victory, the team participated in the senior night festivities and then decorated the seniors’ cars. What a memorable night!
This is my fifth time writing an end of season article, and it never gets easier. In fact, I think I would prefer going to the dentist. Why? Because it always means that the players that love the game and bonded over the course of the season won’t get to compete together again, and we as fans won’t be able to watch them do it. I wanted to give a big shout again to Coach Alex and the rest of the coaching staff, team manager Piper McGinley, and team photographers Danny Polkinghorn (who showed up and took tremendous pictures despite Lillian’s injury) and Justin Bundy (photos can be found here). I also wanted to thank all the fans for the unwavering support to the team and their comraderie in the stands.
Along the way, I hope that I was able to not only give you at least a little bit of information about what happened during the games, but also educate you about the history of the sport and provide you a bit of entertainment. Oh, and by the way, Alex’s favorite ice cream is Neapolitan. Go Dons!
