Season Preview: Girls Soccer Poised For Another Strong Year

The Whaler girls soccer team enters the 2025 season having to replace the program’s all-time leading scorer, Adney Brannigan, who is off to Saint Michaels to continue her playing career in college.

"Losing a scorer like Adney is so tough, as well as her team drive, but like I tell the girls.... you were a part of that," Whaler head coach Doug LeBrecht said. "Adney had all of those points, but this whole crew was a part of it.”

But Nantucket has plenty of players returning who should help the program continue its winning ways despite moving up to Div. 3 play. Two of those returners are senior captain Chelsea Gross and sophomore captain Harper LeBrecht, who alongside Brannigan last year were catalysts for a Whaler offense that has had a knack for scoring goals in bunches ever since LeBrecht took over as head coach in 2022.

"Adney scored so many of our goals but Harper and Chelsea assisted her on like 75 percent of her goals... those assists came from members of the team that are still here,” LeBrecht said. “We still want to win. We still have the potential to win.”

LeBrecht said he is excited about other players throughout the lineup including seniors Myah Johnson, Gabby Nikolova and Allyson Escobar, junior Emma Woodbury, and freshman Ruby Steadman, who was a captain of the junior varsity team last season as an eighth grader.

"Gabby is going to be a beast in the middle as a defensive middle. We are really going to rely on her," LeBrecht said. "And moving up a division, I know we're going to have to protect the backs. We also have Emma who plays year-round. She will be a scoring threat. She is a good striker. Allyson is a senior center back who can groom Molly (Bedell), who is a sophomore as a center back. That's a great learn what you can and then take it over situation. We have Fiona (Keltz) back who is a great center back too.

“Myah has such a great, great attitude,” LeBrecht continued. “She is so athletic and so fast too. We are really going to try to capitalize on what she brings to the table. She is always trying to get better, asking questions.”

LeBrecht is also very excited about junior captain and goalkeeper Madden Myers, who enters her third season as the program’s starting goalie. The three-sport athlete’s play in net will help the team on the field, but LeBrecht said it is Myer’s character and leadership both on and off the field that impresses him the most.

“We've been working with her. She's ready, and we still have her another year after this," LeBrecht said. “She's such a nurturing person." LeBrecht added that Myers has already helped some of the younger players feel more comfortable around the team on a daily basis who are new to the varsity level, and that this attentiveness was on display during the team’s off-island preseason trip last week.

“She took over for Claire (Misurelli) who was always that person who was so nurturing and brought that cohesiveness,” LeBrecht said. “And she is our goalie. She is just such a huge part of this team.”

As for Gross, LeBrecht wants her being more aggressive when it comes to taking shots and trying to be a goal scorer, not just a facilitator and playmaker. This team is her team as the senior captain, and LeBrecht is excited to see her embrace the role.

"When we were up in New Hampshire (for our preseason trip), she scored about 46 yards out on a set kick," LeBrecht said. "The goalie had no idea. She was just reading the post, moving her team around. Chelsea's got a leg. She's got both legs. It doesn't matter, you push her to either way or the other, and she's going to make you pay. She's going to find an open spot. Chelsea had a good year last year and was being a good captain, assisting and being a team player. But now we need her to be a little bit more selfish, in a good way. The team is ready for that.”

The Whalers will kick off the regular season at home on Tuesday, September 2^nd at the turf field when they take on Sturgis West at 3:30 p.m. You can view the full schedule here.