Evelyn Ruan, Haset Tesfaw, and Chelmie Hyppolite also contributed to this article.
As the Girls’ Soccer team nears the middle of their season, two games proved to be vital to the team’s growth as a newer and still developing team. After coming off from last year’s season which was filled with both struggles and victories, the team has mainly faced hardships within their current season as injuries and graduated seniors leaving the team have caused them to experiment and develop their new players into different positions. However, the game on September 24th against Chelsea, and the challenging game played against Revere days after, proved that the team is capable of overcoming its hardships.
After defeating the Chelsea team last season 9-1, the team was hoping to achieve another swift victory with their new team. But going into the game, the Girls’ soccer team had a season record of six losses and one win and was eager to reach their second win.
The game against Chelsea proved to be a great defensive game for Malden as the ball was in their possession for the majority of the first and second halves. Their possession allowed key players like junior striker Mercedes Costa Aispuro and others to make continuous attempts to score goals and create open plays while allowing for defensive players like sophomore Meriam Bouchtout to keep the ball on Malden’s side. The team’s offensive and defensive skills within the first half allowed Malden to be up 3-0 with goals from senior Makenzie Jenkins, sophomore Meriam Bouchtout, and junior Mercedes Costa Aispuro.
During the second half, the team continued their lead over Chelsea while slowing their pace down a little bit, allowing Chelsea to take more shots than they had done in the first half, but were blocked by sophomore goalie Imane Agoumad.
While the defense started to slow down, the offense kept the pace up as junior Mercedes Costa Aispuro scored the first goal in the second half and got fouled within the penalty box, which allowed Malden to take a penalty. Ultimately, it was missed by sophomore Nyla Pierre. But, the missed penalty was quickly made up with the final goal from senior captain Makenzie Jenkins, stretching their lead to 5-0.
Although this game proved to be rewarding for players like Bouchtout as she ended the game with a goal and strong attacks defensively during both halves, she still highlighted possible ways for her team to improve and end the season strong despite her performance.
“To be honest our performance, mine included, was not very good and we didn’t do a lot of good passes. I feel like we could improve on our team communication as well, we could do with a lot more communication, and I feel like we can achieve that goal by the end of the season,” expressed Bouchtout.
Due to injury, some players have had to step up and play positions they aren’t comfortable in. The team’s coach, Rick Caceda, Berliner, and Bouchtout all agree that with time, the team should be able to perform at its best again.
Specifically, Berliner points out that the team’s lineups “should be fixed very soon” as the team has had “multiple injuries, and a lot of ankle injuries.” With those injuries healing and players returning on the field, Berliner is positive that “our lineups should be renewed and we should have everyone in their natural position, the position that they’ve been training for, for several years.”
After the team’s second win of the season, they were eager for another win during their second match of the week against Revere on September 26th.
Before going into the game, Coach Caceda noted that this game would be “a really tough game,” but hoped that the win on Tuesday would help the team build their confidence and motivation to manufacture their third win.
Although Malden was dominant in both their defense and offense in the first half, the team ended up conceding two goals to Revere as their offense kept getting past Malden’s defense, causing Revere to take shots or create plays that Malden’s team couldn’t stop. With the ball’s possession primarily being on Revere’s side, Malden tried to change their approach towards the game, as after the second goal was scored, right before halftime, Coach Caceda called for a timeout to advise the team on how to deal with the attacking offense and on how not to let up any more goals.
After the team’s halftime discussion, the girls became harsher in their defensive scheme and tried to keep possession of the ball whenever possible. Their changes after halftime led to a handful of attempts to score from multiple Malden players, but none of them converted. By the end of the game, the score remained constant from the first half, with Revere winning over Malden 2-0, showcasing Malden’s defensive skills over the course of the game.
Despite the Malden loss, Coach Berliner claimed that this game was their “best game of the year.” Coach Caceda noticed that the team had “complete ball movement,” and “had 12 shots in the game even though we didn’t score, that’s the most we’ve generated all year long.” He believes this will help for future games as the team “might be the first placed team in the league, so that’s going to make our next games even easier.”
This game against Revere and the one against Chelsea showed a new side to the Girls’ Soccer team this season as positions start to fall in place. Many on the team, like senior Jazlyn Martinez, believe in her teammates and are hopeful that in future games the team “can do better.”
