On a beautiful fall evening in New England, the Middlesex girls' varsity soccer team traveled to St. Mark's for a highly anticipated game under the lights.
Both teams started the game with lots of energy, but St. Mark's jumped to an early lead within the first five minutes. As Middlesex worked to overcome some early jitters and bottle the palpable energy of the evening they settled down and began to execute their style of play. The girls gained confidence and began to see more possession of the ball as the midfield of Dakota '14, Mari '16, Shannon '16 and Irene '16 began finding each other and combining nicely. The majority of the first half was back and forth between both teams but St. Mark's managed to be the more dangerous team coming forward and they snatched a second goal shortly before halftime.
Down 2-0 heading into the break, Middlesex regained its focus and composure and started the second half on fire. Irene '14 and Shannon '16 began to find space out wide and behind the St. Mark's defense and Lucy '17 and Caroline '17 started to join the attack from the back line. Middlesex dictated the run of play and was the more dangerous team in the attacking third for the majority of the second half and they were rewarded with a beautifully crafted goal with 25 minutes left on the clock. Shannon '16 found Irene '14 on the back post with a dangerous cross for an easy finish after a sustained period of excellent possession from the Middlesex eleven. Middlesex was reenergized by the goal and continued to press St. Mark's for the equalizer, while keeping the St. Mark's attack at bay with strong performances by Mary '16 and Kate '15. Unfortunately for the Zebras, St. Mark's scored on a lovely placed free kick against the run of play to take a 3-1 lead and close out the game.
Although the girls suffered another disappointing result, they battled until the final whistle and refused to accept defeat. The girls are thankful for the tremendous support shown by the bus load of boisterous supporters that made the trip to Southborough and they look forward to getting back to work in preparation for the St. Paul's Pelicans on Wednesday.
