By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff
Junior Managing Editor
The girls’ soccer team (9-7-2) is set to compete in the state playoffs against Whitman Hanson (14-1-3) away tomorrow at 6 pm.
The Lions finished the regular season with a 3-2 victory over Westford Academy last Tuesday. Senior captain Elizabeth Berry (11 goals, seven assists), sophomore Ali Nislick (seven goals, five assists) and senior captain Tamar Bulka (four goals, eight assists) have led the way offensively for the Lions thus far, who have scored 2.7 goals a game while allowing just 1.2.
According to junior Anna Kim, the senior class has played a key role in the Lions’ success this season, with Izi Epstein, Callie Tausig, and Kat Cullen also contributing for South. “They set a really good work ethic and know how to get people motivated for our games,” she said.
The team had a quick start to the season, winning its first four games and scoring at least four goals per game, showing the Dual-County League they were going to have a shot at the playoffs early on in the season.
They then faced formidable DCL rivals Acton-Boxborough and Lincoln Sudbury, both of whom are highly ranked in the state. Although they did not beat either of these teams the first time around, the Lions learned greatly from these tough games and put it to use later on in the season.
The Lions beat no. 9 Lincoln-Sudbury 2-1 earlier this month to nab their eighth win and secure their place in the playoffs. “The greatest win by far was our second game against LS,” junior Ava Shaevel said. This win showed that the team could compete with anyone, according to Kim.
The girls’ soccer team has also had to overcome various injuries during the season, including juniors Rina Rabinovich and Catherine Pierce, who were replaced by sophomores Caroline Kern and Kaavya Chaparala, respectively.
They usually play a diamond back on defense, meaning they play a stopper (in front of the sweeper), a sweeper (the last one back), and two outside defenders, which helped the Lions limit the scoring this season.
They have relied upon their depth, bringing up players from JV in order to stay competitive on the field, which has given a chance for younger players to compete with and learn from the experience of the seniors.
Another strength of the team this year has been its great flexibility to field players at different positions depending on the game and team need. “Our starting defensive line lost three of our starters from last year so people had to be flexible and learn new positions and compromise and cooperate [for the good of the team],” junior Katie Summers said.
The midfield, according to Summers, is also very strong in one-on-one situations, helping the team’s overall defense to keep opponent goal scorers at bay in key situations.
Looking to the playoffs, the Lions believe they can make a deep run in the tournament. They have been close in almost every single game this season, staying competitive against the best of teams, like undefeated AB, while showing their strengths against teams on the edge of the playoff bubble.
They see their recent victory over LS as a sign of things to come, as it shows that they can play with anybody in the state.
“There is no team we have played this whole season that has completely dominated the entire game,” Shaevel said. “Although the scoreboard may show something different, there have been many games that we have dominated almost all of, but just couldn’t finish to get a goal. Going into the tournament, if we can finish and dominate on the field, then we will be a very hard team to beat.”
