10/5 – Andover: 2, Choate: 3
10/9 – Andover: 2, Brooks: 1
On Saturday, Girls Soccer (6-1-3) put up a tough fight against Choate, ultimately losing by one goal scored by Choate in the last minute. On Wednesday, though, the team returned to the field and won against Brooks while dressed in special pink uniforms for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
In the Choate game, the team was down 0-1 at halftime but managed to score two goals in the second half, just falling short of Choate’s three total goals. Murathime Daisley ’26 looked past the team’s loss against Choate, commenting on the close connection the team has with each other and the player’s excitement to compete.
Daisley said, “Especially because we’re such a close-knit team, we’re always very excited to play with each other. That just reflects how we come onto the field: we come onto the field with high intensity, and we’re very just excited to get started and get playing. We have a lot of fast players and we like to play fast and that’s just a big strength of ours. That all contributes to our energy. That was seen especially coming out in the second half; [we were] so hungry and so ready to go.”
Wylie Roossien ’26 praised her teammate Lauren Herlihy ’25, who, in the midfield, put up a fierce performance against strong opponents. A Senior this year, Herlihy’s experience and composure helped in leading the team.
“[Lauren Herlihy ’25] was in the midfield for us, and she was playing attacking mid and holding mid for the majority of the game. [Choate] had a very, very talented midfielder, and I would argue that that was probably the strongest point of [their] team. [Lauren] was able to stay with all those players and essentially shut them down,” said Roossien.
She continued, “When she was in, she didn’t give up anything, and she was such a strong point for us, and in a game where it’s so even throughout the field, you depend on that, and you depend on that strength in the midfield to keep us going. She was very composed. When we were scoring, she was excited for us, but she did not put her head down when we let up a goal. Again, [she showed] that senior leadership.”
Daisley noted the challenges that come with a smaller roster. With fewer players, the team has to exert themselves more and play for longer periods. She also praised her teammates’ competitiveness and focus for the duration of the game on Saturday.
“Generally, our strength is definitely our speed, our physicality, and our competitive spirit. In this game, we definitely felt the team being smaller this year even though everyone was holding their own,” said Daisley.
Daisley continued, “It’s hard on your fitness playing close to 80 minutes and also being down which made it a challenging game. We did a really good job of staying locked in the whole time.”
Roossien mentioned Ashley Dimnaku’s ’25 performance in the game against Choate which was characterized by scoring the team’s second goal early in the second half, which gave the team the confidence and encouragement to keep pushing through the match.
“Our second goal, to be our last goal, was scored by Ashley, [one of] our Freshmen. She was, forward or attacking mid at that moment, but that was in the second half–the first five to ten minutes of the second half–and that gives you so much momentum in such a tight game. Although we weren’t able to pull it off in the end, we were winning and then were tied for the majority of the game up until the last minute. Ashley’s goal really gave us that confidence but also encouragement to keep fighting throughout the duration of the second half,” said Roossien.
In Andover’s game on Wednesday that resulted in a win, Co-Captain Hayden Fischer ’25 scored the game-winning goal with three minutes left on the clock. Adele Russell ’27 described how the initial pass to Fischer from a corner kick played out, allowing for a shot on goal.
“For our second goal, it was in the last four minutes of the game, off a corner kick passed to her, Hayden played a big pass in front of the net and the ball found its way into the back of the net, just after bouncing around a little bit in front of the net. [That] was really nice because it was a tie game at that point,” said Russell.
Girls Soccer will play St. Paul’s at home on Friday.
