As this academic school year (2023-2024) kicks off for Hingham, it brings the start of all fall sports along with it. Field Hockey, Football, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer, and Volleyball have all spent their afternoons training and fighting for wins. The first games of the season have kicked off and most teams have settled in and started their records strong. They all have displayed hard work, strength, and spirit as they ease into the season. One team in particular to watch this year would be The Hingham High School’s Varsity Girls Soccer team. After winning The Division 1 State title last fall season, the girls have a high bar set.
The team lost a significant eleven seniors last year causing the dynamic within the team to change drastically. Moving up are 6 new seniors, 3 of whom are captains: Ava Varholak, Reese Pompeo, and Claire Murray. The team has continued to be led by the same coach as the previous year, Mary-Francis Monroe, a four-time All-American at the University of Connecticut and UCLA with experience on the national team. The team has new and fresh talent in the younger players as well as the strong seniors who are ready for the season to begin and have major goals for the games ahead.
The girl’s soccer team has demonstrated resilience, hard work, and determination in their first few games and practice sessions so far. However, after hard-fought losses in scrimmages during the preseason against NDA and Algonquin and later traveling to a Jamboree in Mansfield for two more losses against Mansfield and King Philip the team could not help but feel defeated. After a tough season opener at home losing to Marshfield 1-0, the team rallied and continued to push themselves and work hard with an end goal in mind of many wins and ultimately the state trophy once again.
Just last week, however, the girls had a back-to-back stretch, traveling to King Philip on Wednesday for a 2-1 victory and playing Quincy at home on Thursday for a team awarded 6-1 win. After a skeptical preseason, the large victory was well awaited and awarded to the team. After starting off slow, with a 1-0 score at the end of the first half, the team picked it up dramatically and was able to pull off five more goals. With Claire Murray scoring three goals, and additional goals from freshman Taylor Bello, Junior Grace Maroney, and freshman Ellie Troung, the girls worked hard to put the ball in the back of the net. Senior captain, Claire Murray comments on the improvement of the team in the most recent game. “I think our team finally came together as a unit during our game against Quincy. We were connecting, people were starting to gain more confidence in their abilities, a number of people got on the score sheet, etc.” With hard work from the defense to keep the Quincy goals low and the offense and midfield working together to send the ball up the field, the game against Quincy last Thursday night, demonstrated what Hingham Girls Soccer is all about.
The girls have three more games to play next week as well as many more exciting events including the annual Maddies Promise game to look forward to. After this exciting victory, the Hingham Varsity Soccer Girls are ready to bring home the state title once again. The head coach Mary Francis-Monroe has high hopes for the season ahead. “I am really proud of the team so far this season. We have many new players filling some big shoes and new roles. We are improving each day in training and in each game. Our team’s goal is to take one game at a time and hit our stride and peak at the end of our season. Everyone on this team is important and we want to make sure everyone does their job to the best of their ability.” The school community looks forward to seeing what the team can bring this year and will no doubt be cheering them on.
