October 10, 2022 by Mark Blaudschun
The bar was set high last spring when they came within a few goals of winning the state championship.
It remained that way over the summer when Mary-Frances Monroe officially stepped into the role filled the last two seasons by her wife--as the head coach of the Hingham girl's soccer team.
And now, a little more than a month into the regular season not much has changed.
""We have high expectations and there was a challenge at the start of the season when we had to meld a lot of new people into new roles,'' said Monroe. "We knew it was going to be a challenge, but thus far it's working out. But we still have a long way to go.''
Monroe is in a strange position. Her wife, Sarah Dacey, preceded her at Hingham and set a table which included a seat in the state championship table.
But Dacey made the move to coach women's lacrosse and soccer at Curry College, which left an opening that Monroe quickly and thus far, easily, has filled.
"It helps to having been around here (as a part time assistant) last year,'' said Monroe, who has watched the Harbor women sprint to a 9-0-2 start.
"That has helped a lot,'' said Claire Murray, who has been the team's leading scorer. ""Lots of new people in new roles, new coach, it has taken us awhile to put everything together.''
Maybe that explains the ties in two of their first three games of the season.
But that changed a few weeks ago when the Harborwomen put together a 4 game-shutout streak, which includes a six game stretch in which Hingham has outscored its opponents by a combined score of 29-1.
Himgham knows what to expect for the remainder of the season.
"We have a target on our back,'' said co-captain Maddie Aughe. "We're everybody's biggest game of the year. Our goal is to win the state championship and do what we didn't do last season.''
Hingham Girls Soccer ready for title run
