Emily Mara ’25 plays the ball furiously down the field.
11/1 – Andover: 6, Lawrence Academy: 0
During Senior Night, the penultimate match of the season, Girls Soccer (11-3-3) dominated against Lawrence Academy. The win served as the team’s third straight shutout, having previously defeated Noble and Greenough and Deerfield. Co-Captain Emily Mara ’25 scored the first goal of the game about twenty minutes in. The second goal resulted from a play in which Mara passed the ball to Wylie Roossien ’26, leading Roossien to shoot. Roossien then kicked another successful shot into Lawrence’s goal which widened the gap between Andover and Lawrence to 3-0. Minutes later, Roossien assisted teammate Emily Decker ’26 for the team’s fourth goal. Mara scored a goal off of a penalty kick and assisted by Murathime Daisley ’26, Co-Captain Hayden Fischer ’25 kicked Andover’s final goal of the night.
Being Senior Night, Adele Russell ’27 described the energy that students and families brought to watch their friends or loved ones compete. She also praised her three Co-Captains as well as three other Senior-leaders: Lily Keim ’25, Sophia Cratty ’25, and Ginny Marshall ’25.
“It was really, really cool. There was so much energy and the intensity was brought to the game by the players and coaches, but also everybody there to support us, like students, parents, and families,” said Russell.
She continued, “The three Captains, obviously, have been crucial to our success this season, but also Lily, Cratty, and Ginny. All of them have really created a team atmosphere that is the reason why we’ve been so successful this season.”
Roossien first commended all of her teammates on their performances and focused on Fischer. She detailed Fischer’s overall team efforts and well-executed goal towards the end of the match.
“There were so many people that stood out. The person that shaped out most in my mind was Hayden. Hayden’s goal was crazy; she played out of their mind. She played so well, probably the best I’ve ever seen her. She went crazy and her presence attacking in the third was huge for us and shifted the momentum towards the end of the first half. She had a couple of shots but ultimately was responsible for that momentum. Then going into the second half, she was hungry to get on the ball and make something happen for herself and she was able to put a beautiful shot into the back of the net,” said Roossien.
Russell looked back on the team’s progress toward a community. She cited the support system created by leaders and the work ethic her teammates put into the sport.
“We’ve had a few team dinners, but the intensity and the support that this team has for each other in practices, games, in school, and that is just everywhere is just really amazing to see,” said Russell.
Roossien described the practice plan leading up to the team’s last match against Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter). She noted the team will work on transitioning from offense to defense as well as crossing and finishing shots.
“For practice, the mentality is to make sure to work on counter-transitions. This is how we transition from offense to defense and vice versa and that’s where we’ve had the most opportunities generated within the last couple games of our season. That will be crucial for us on Saturday as well. We will definitely also work on crossing and finishing. We’re continuing to finish a lot of our chances, certainly the last four or five games, we’ve had a lot of shots on net. Our goals per game have also increased so that’s been very good to see. That’s come from us taking lots and lots of shots in practice so we’ll definitely continue to work on that,” said Roossien.
Girls Soccer will cap off its season against Exeter at home on Smoyer during Saturday’s Andover/Exeter rivalry events.
