November 8, 2022 - Story and photos by Joshua Ross
Game recap - The Hingham girls soccer team is very good.
They have four games left to determine how good they can really be.
In their opening round against 31st seed Attleboro, it didn't take long to see how this game was going to turn out. In a matter of 10 minutes, senior captain, Patriot League MVP, & UCLA (who is the #1 college team in the country) commit Sophie Reale netted three goals of her four goals and that was all she wrote.
After losing a heartbreaking match for the state championship last year, the girls opened this year's tournament with a purpose and got a convincing 7-0 win.
"High energy," is what head coach Mary-Frances Monroe called it. "We talked about on any given day, anybody can win a game and we just had to make sure we focused on one game at a time. I told them it's ok to be nervous. They were nervous too, even though we are top seed they were nervous and I told them to take your nervousness and make it be competitive."
This message hit home as the Harborwomen are now the top remaining seed in the tournament after #1 seed Acton-Boxborough lost on Sunday night.
"That was the message I gave them," she went on to say. "The number one seed was knocked out and anybody can get knocked out so you have to take everything serious and every moment on the field you have to play your best, be focused, and do all the small things rights and compete."
The message certainly seemed to get through to each and every player. In games like this, there were plenty of opportunities for all the players Monroe rotated into the game. Especially some who normally wouldn't get playoff minutes. While every opponent facing Hingham will focus on Reale and junior Claire Murray, rightfully so, the rest of the talent up and down this roster poses a significant problem for teams. Whether its seniors Emily Gibbons and Kelsey Tarby (2 goals on the night) on offense or senior captains Maddie Aughe and Caroline Schiffmann on defense, it is almost impossible to pick even two or three players to focus on without two or three others making game changing plays.
"Emily is the glue of the team," says Monroe. "If she's not on the field, then I get a little nervous. She's the one who can calm the game down. She's the one that can speed the game up. She can attack. She can defend. She's composed. She's just had a really great season so far. And Kelsey deserved her goals today. She finally got two in there. I'm so proud of her. She works really hard. Just works extremely hard and never complains."
Next up for the girls is 18th seed Shrewsbury on Thursday night at 6pm on the turf.
GAME PHOTOS
