The past two regular seasons for St. Ed’s girls soccer teams have been wildly successful under head coach Jaclyn Mohr. Now you get the feeling that there is a smoldering urgency permeating this current team as it tries to break through and claim the first district title in Mohr’s three-year tenure.
“We have 26 girls on the team and five of them are newcomers,” Mohr said. “I think what is really special is that all of our returners have the experience of going to the district finals and losing, and they all want to get back to the district finals and have a different outcome.”
This season the Pirates bolted out to a 3-0 start with a spectacular 21-1 scoring differential. District 10-1A rivals John Carroll and Holy Trinity Episcopal were shutout victims, meaning a game this week with Pine School concluded the first half of the district schedule. St. Ed’s will face all three again, but a victory over Pine School will put the entire district on notice, including Holy Trinity – the nemesis that claimed the last two district titles.
You get the temperature of this group from seniors Alex Marshall and Mia Festagallo. The coach is also determined to do what she can to see that her team is not denied this time.
“It’s different looking at this team from the senior level,” Marshall – a co-captain with Anabelle Greene – explained. “It looks young to me, but it probably isn’t. We actually have a lot of seniors on our roster this year as starters. So I think we are really well-rounded. We’ve got a strong team with a lot of experience. I’m really excited to see how far we can go because we have a lot of potential.
“We had a tough preseason with a lot of running, so we were very strong going into the season and came out the best we can. We want to keep that momentum going into districts and hopefully into regionals.”
Marshall was already looking ahead to the playoffs, but she knows what needs to change when the time arrives. She told us, “Sometimes under high pressure situations we break down a little. But we are getting better at handling our stress in those situations.
“We talk about that all the time. Sometimes our nerves break down as a team. We need to build up our confidence and team chemistry to know that we can handle our nerves. And we have to show that we can do that consistently through the rest of the season.”
Mia Festagallo first appeared on the varsity soccer scene in sixth grade. That is highly unusual, but it surely speaks to the talent that she has put on display over seven years.
“I’ve been on this team for the past six years and three times we made it to the district finals and lost,” Festagallo said. “This year I just want to get that win. It would just be amazing. Right now (through last week) we are undefeated and sometimes in a situation like that you get a little bit ahead of yourself.
“As a team we are still working hard and trying not to just sit back. We are practicing hard and trying to win every single game.”
Festagallo has been a prolific goal scorer in the past, but now she sees her role a little differently. It reflects a type of maturity that brings praise from her teammates and coaches.
“We have goal scorers like Carter (Cooper, with 5), Alex (Marshall, with 4) and Ally (Eidemueller, with 5),” Festagallo said. “I see myself staying in the middle and trying to pass the ball and creating opportunities for them to score.
“Scoring is nice but it’s not my main priority. I’ve already had my time. I like creating the play and I want to let other people get a shot.”
Senior keeper Kyrstin Malek is a veteran in the net and continues to be steady. She had eight saves in two games and combined with sophomore Lauren Savage for three more in a shared effort. The defense has held and the offense was fortified by the return of junior Carter Cooper after a year at a boarding school.
Mohr obviously has a talented squad to work with, and when Master’s Academy dropped out of the district, a void in the schedule arose and the wheels started to turn.
“I’m contacting other coaches to see if we can add some games,” Mohr said. “I would like to schedule teams that push us to be better and maybe in some cases that are better than us. That would be the type of game that we need and only help us to improve.”
Everyone knows what needs to be done to finally claim that elusive district title.
