On Monday, April 14, McLean’s varsity girls soccer team took on the South Lakes Seahawks in an intense game.
Before the game, the Highlanders celebrated their senior night, celebrating senior goalkeepers Aimee Abraham and Lauren Mechem, defenders Róisín Patton, Zoe Adams-Christian and Sydney Maitland and forwards Ashley O’Sullivan and Jasmin Guerrero. Filled with excitement from senior night, the Highlanders led into the game with high hopes.
“It gave me a lot of confidence to go out on the field when the stands were packed and everyone was filled with energy,” senior forward Ashley O’Sullivan said.
The intense game started from a pass by sophomore midfielder Mai Moriyama. The Seahawks dominated minutes early into the game, keeping the ball on McLean’s defensive side.
“I was surprised about how aggressive they were,” Moriyama said. “They were getting angry at us and yelling.”
Warmed up after the first few minutes, Mclean fought hard back against the Seahawks, both teams equally keeping the ball on their offensive side. McLean’s defense fought hard, keeping the game going back and forth for a long time.
“We came out strong at the beginning of the game wanting to win our senior night,” sophomore defender Savannah Alton said. “We put in our full effort and tried our best.”
Attacking harder, the Highlanders started to dominate on the Seahawk’s defensive side, taking many shots on goal. With a strong pass forward, freshman forward Naomi Plerhoples dribbled the ball intensely, defeating the Seahawks defense, ultimately passing the ball to O’Sullivan, who took a shot, missing the goal by just a few inches.
With shot after shot struggling to place the ball into the goal, junior Charlotte Holbrook took an intense attack on the ball, dribbling around Seahawk players, passing the ball to Plerhoples, who scored around South Lake’s goalkeeper into the bottom right of the goal. The excitement quickly turned into intense determination just minutes later as the Seahawks scored their first goal from a free kick, keeping the game tight.
“My first goal was exciting and I wouldn’t have gotten it without the help of my team,” Plerhoples said. “Charlotte, our winger, played me a perfect ball to get to the goal and I was super proud of our team’s performance and attacking play.”
Going into the second half, the Highlanders and Seahawks were tied 1-1, energy radiating on the field. Tensions in the crowd and on the field were high as the refs didn’t seem to be calling many fouls, keeping the game intense. The aggressive game continued, the Highlanders pushing towards the Seahawk’s defensive side and the Seahawks fighting hard, both teams determined to score a second goal.
Holbrook ended up scoring McLean’s second goal, with an assist from Plerhoples, leading the game 2-1. South Lakes battled back, facing-off with senior goalkeeper Lauren Mechem, ending with a goal, tying the game 2-2.
Determined to lead again, freshman midfielder Emma Peterson attacked on goal and scored on the Seahawks from a penalty kick. But the Seahawks kept the same energy, receiving the ball to what seemed like offsides to the McLean crowd, ultimately scoring on the Highlander’s goal. This tied the game 3-3, keeping tensions high.
“I scored my PK to help win the game and make senior night a special night for the seniors and everyone watching,” Peterson said.
Throughout the rest of the second half, both teams were strong on attack, but struggled to score a final goal. The game ended up going into overtime, with a tied score of 3-3.
“We were able to keep up the energy going into overtime because we wanted to fight hard for a win for our seniors,” sophomore forward Amalia Torpy said.
In overtime, both teams kept their energy up, attacking on offense and defense. With shots on goal from both the Highlanders and the Seahawks, both goalkeepers prevented any scoring, and the game ended in a 3-3 tie.
Next, the Highlanders are ready for the rest of their season, preparing skill drills at practice and practicing scrimmages for future wins.
“I think that we’ve come together as a team really nicely and we’re working really well together passing the ball around,” head coach Austin Vassallo said. “I think this is one of the better offenses I’ve seen us have since I started coaching, so I’m very excited for what’s to come.”
