As Winchester carries out a mid-October practice, the immense skill exhibited on the turf of Knowlton Stadium is evident.
There’s been no dropoff in Winchester’s supreme talent this fall even after back-to-back Division 2 state title runs – one that culminated in the elation of claiming the state crown in 2018, the other ending in the agony of defeat last year.
Winchester girls coach Rick Emanuel knows it’s a special group as he surveys his team executing drill after drill with stellar precision, and he can’t help but enjoy all of his club’s terrific qualities that make it one of the top squads in the state again.
“We’ll do training activities, finishing activities, two-v-two activities, and I literally just sit back with a big grin on my face and watch,” Emanuel said, “and watch in awe of the level of talent that these guys have.”
The abundance of talent begins with Eastern Mass. Girls Soccer Coaches Association All-American Hannah Curtin. The Dartmouth-bound forward tore into opposing defenses her first three seasons to record 65 goals and 41 assists for 106 points and she added to those totals this year by already tallying nine goals and four helpers in four games.
Joining Curtin in the Ivy League ranks next year are Ally Murphy, a sensational striker who is committed to Princeton and has netted over 50 career goals, and Ellie Rappole, who will suit up for Yale. Jordan Weinberg (Gettysburg), Ella Stone (Skidmore), Lila Cohen (Hobart) and Maillie McMahon (St. Lawrence) will also play collegiately.
The benefit of having such a luxury of riches doesn’t come only on game days for Winchester as the vast collection of talent elevates everyone to a higher standard even in practices.
“There’s so much competition just at practices that you can never really let down,” Curtin said. “We go to practice and we know that we’re going to be facing players that are just as good, if not better, than all the competitors we’re going to be facing. It definitely helps us grow for each game.”
Winchester’s wealth of success, including this season as it has rolled through its first four opponents and posted a resounding 24-3 scoring margin, is also aided by a deep connection the team has fostered from years of playing together.
Emanuel, whose daughter, Kate, is one of 15 seniors on the club, has seen those players grow as children learning the game of soccer and transform into a powerhouse that has registered a 61-6-3 record thus far in high school.
“This isn’t a soccer team. This is family,” Emanuel said. “I’ve always sort of had the Saturday before Thanksgiving of their senior year circled on my calendar for a long time as sort of this watershed moment of this coming to an end. It’s going to be emotional.”
Bedford’s bagels
It became an annual tradition that whenever Bedford recorded a shutout, the next day at school the seniors brought in bagels for the team as a celebratory gesture for their efforts.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped the custom momentarily, the shutouts have continued for the Buccaneers this season, who have posted five clean sheets through its first seven games with Connor Loughlin, Sean Morrison, Luca Melfi and Shaan Manocha anchoring the vaunted defensive unit.
“It’s a thing of pride,” said Gunnar Olson, who assumed head coaching duties this season with Dave Boschetto taking the year off due to the pandemic. “It comes from years of where we didn’t have the greatest offenses in the world and to get results and to get into the state tournament, we have to just focus on defense, defend first and that’s just kind of the way it’s always been.”
Bedford also got the job done off the field as the Buccaneers partnered with Bedford’s girls soccer program to raise over $8,000 for the popular Kicks For Cancer initiative, which was started by the Concord-Carlisle boys soccer program in 2007 and generates funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
“The way the world is today to be able to do something good and feel positive about that was huge,” Olson said. “To see what that number came up being was just unbelievable.”
On lockdown
Franklin coach Tom Geysen didn’t see this type of start coming, but it would have been difficult anyways to predict the Panthers sporting a dazzling 6-0 record and outscoring their opponents by an astounding 25-1 margin.
Franklin’s success is predicated on its ironclad defense, which has earned shutouts in 16 of its last 19 games dating back to last season. Carissa Alers, Izzy Arnold, Norah Anderson and Katie Ewald fortify the defensive unit that has Panthers in the driver’s seat in the Hockomock League Kelley-Rex Division.
“It’s a credit to how hard they’re working,” Geysen said. “They’re doing everything they can do to keep things going well.”
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High school soccer notebook: Winchester girls still a force - Boston Herald
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