Experienced Girls Soccer Squad Aiming For Successful Tournament Run

After a disappointing 5-1 loss to Clinton High School in the preliminary round of last year’s state tournament, the Nantucket girls soccer team is back with vengeance – fielding an experienced core of players that hopes to make amends for last year’s disappointing finish.

"As far as our bad habits from last year, we have been very clear of the fact that you are either in or you are out," head coach Doug LeBrecht said about his team buying into the team goals and game plan.

The Whalers will be led by returning star players such as senior captain Adney Brannigan and junior captain Chelsea Gross. Sophomore Emma Woodbury and freshman Harper LeBrecht also figure to play a significant role in the team’s offense.

"Strengths definitely begin with our lead scorer and lead assister (Adney Brannigan and Chelsea Gross)," LeBrecht said. "I think we have five club players. One is new, some are returning. We're trying to teach the girls that in life, there is only one female that ever wants you to be better than them and that's your mom. So when you have someone good on your team like an Adney, Chelsea, Emma, you got to support them. You got to want them to be good. They make you better. You can't be jealous, you can't get after them. You can't think that their work ethic is coming after you. That's just their hard work. I'm trying to teach them that.”

LeBrecht said he saw his team come together and show excellent chemistry during a trip this past weekend to New Hampshire. The team visited Colby-Sawyer College, which is Div. 3, followed by Dartmouth College to watch their Ivy-League, Div. 1 program while they played Marshall. He said it was a good opportunity to see athletes playing at the college level, but also for the team to come together ahead of the regular season.

“When we left to go to New Hampshire Thursday morning it was your typical clicks like freshmen and sophomores together, juniors and seniors, but by the time we got into the bus, it was already mixed,” LeBrecht said. “Both my parents have passed. We stay at my mom’s house. By the time they got to after dinner, and there's no Wi-Fi like the stone ages, it was just one big group playing cards, doing team stuff. We noticed that through the weekend - the progression of friends all mixed up. It was nice.”

The girls also had an opportunity to play a pair of scrimmages while off-island – beating Kearsarge Regional High School (LeBrecht’s high school alma mater) 10-2 and Milford High School 2-1. LeBrecht said the offense played sharp, and he continues to be optimistic about sophomore goalie Madden Myers – who is entering her second season as the team’s starting keeper.

"She is fitting in better than ever in goalie,” LeBrecht said of his young goalie. “She went to camps, she was getting coached here all summer. Middlebury coaches came down and coached her. She's here and she's grown up a lot.”

LeBrecht said minimizing bad penalties while maintaining the physical edge his team plays with will be key to a successful season. He said the 2-1 game against Milford was a good example of how his team can blend physicality and following the game plan/system to generate effective play that earns them victories against good opponents.

Nantucket’s first game is scheduled for Thursday, September 5 at home against Rising Tide Charter School at 4 p.m. You can view the girls soccer schedule here.