Following three straight shutout wins on the road to open the season, St. Ed’s varsity girls soccer team was finally scored upon in its first game on home turf last Friday night. Nevertheless, the Pirates (4-0) were still able to stroll past Master’s Academy 6-2 and through the first four games the opposition has been outscored by a whopping 23-2.
Freshman Carter Cooper added three more goals against Master’s to bring her total to 13 in just four outings. Sophomore Mia Festagallo chipped in with one goal and three assists. She leads the team with seven total assists. Seniors Kate Ederle and Dani Pulido added a goal apiece. Sophomore keeper Kyrstin Malek stopped seven shots.
“I thought we would be relatively successful through the first few games,” first-year Head Coach Jaclyn Pancotti said. “I expected it to go well, but not this well.”
Pancotti has assembled a formidable mixture of steady senior leadership on defense with a front-line offense led by a trio of youngsters working together with near-artistic precision around the net.
Expectations are rising by the day and Pancotti surely wants to keep her team grounded, but it’s hard not to feel the optimism brewing around this team.
“I think we can have more of the same, but we have to realize that we have tougher competition ahead,” Pancotti cautioned. “So we can’t get big heads. We know the other teams will improve as the season progresses. We have to work just as hard as everybody else and take no team lightly.”
The offense is clicking on three cylinders named Cooper, Festagallo and Alex Marshall. They accounted for 19 of the 23 goals. Pulido and Ederle each had two. Nine players shared 22 assists. Malek had 17 total saves.
The defense in front of Malek is anchored by senior Brett Harper. The action on her side of the field has been minimal at times, but she knows what must be done for the team to be successful.
“I’m the last line of defense,” Harper explained. “I pick up anything that gets behind the defenders in front of me. Our defense is pretty solid. We all communicate and work well together. Our successful defense so far this year extends to the goalie. She’s very agile and quick on her feet, so I don’t think she’s going to give up a lot of goals.”
Pancotti doesn’t undervalue the intangibles that she has on defense. Harper and Pulido team up with senior classmates Morgan Benson and Adline Juste to protect Malek and provide a wealth of experience and leadership.
“Brett is our leader as a sweeper,” Pancotti says. “She can see the whole field and has a great knowledge of the game. Adline and Morgan have stepped up so much. And without Dani helping out back there our defense would not be able to work. She is the heart of our midfield defense.
“They are all aware of the competition and just such great leaders. They want to win the district finals because they got cut short last year. They are doing everything they can to make that happen.”
Team captain Pulido said “I’m really excited about this season. We’ve played really well so far and have formed a very cohesive unit. My dream end to the season would be to win districts. We were really close last year. I believe we can pull it off this year and make it to regionals.”
Last year St. Ed’s was eliminated in the district playoffs 1-0 by Holy Trinity Episcopal. It would be fair to say the girls have targeted their most formidable district rival for a payback. For that to happen, the scoring machine must continue to produce.
“Carter, Mia and Alex just work together really well,” Pancotti said. “They have mastered the give-and-go and combination play. When one shoots the other two follow-up. They are not selfish at all. They are not afraid to use their heads, usually a huge obstacle to overcome for female athletes. They just do whatever they can to get a goal.”
The team was bolstered this year when Cooper and Marshall re-enrolled at St. Ed’s. Marshall, now a sophomore, was in Japan for three years and Cooper was “all over the place” for the past two years.
“I really like scoring, it’s such a big rush,” said Cooper. “We do expect some challenges ahead. Miss Pancotti is strict and she makes us do a lot of running, but we all accept that. We all really want to work hard for her and each other. With our work ethic and perseverance, we have a good shot at this.”
Still only a sophomore, Festagallo has been on the varsity since sixth grade. “This is my fifth year on the varsity and I’m having a lot of fun. We have a pretty solid core and the new players have really helped us. My job is to distribute to Carter and Alex. They work really well together and know how to score.”
Pancotti could not have scripted a better beginning, but she realizes that a solid foundation was in place even before two special players virtually fell from the sky.
“Jeff Lamscha did an amazing job of building the program. I can only hope to do just a little bit of what he did – this year and in the years to come.”