Possession game plays into Cols' hand
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Shrewsbury - Despite wholesale changes to its defense, including the loss of goalie Kristy Benoit, a fouryear starter and two-year All-State team member, the Shrewsbury High girls soccer team has started the 2007 season strong and entered play this week 5-1-1.

"Things are going pretty well," Colonials coach Chip DelPrete said. "We've rebuilt our defense and we're rotating a pair of goalies and we're just trying to get better as the season goes along."

Senior quad-captain Sara Shuster is the lone starting defender back from last year's 18-2-1 team that advanced - for the second consecutive year - to the Central Mass. Division 1 final. The majority of the 11 seniors who graduated played defense.

Starting alongside Shuster for DelPrete has been a troika of sophomores - Kath Beall, Tory Benoit and Michelle Laramee. The quartet is playing in front of goaltenders Demi McLaren, a junior, and Kim Nickle, a sophomore.

"The defense is getting there," DelPrete said. "It takes time. These girls need not only to play at the varsity level, but play together. We've given up five goals in seven games, which is good, but last year we only gave up eight the whole season, and the year before that we only gave up five."

McLaren and Nickel have combined to post shutouts over Fitchburg, Leominster, Milford and North Middlesex.

"So far I've been using the word 'eff ective' to describe our defense, which I think is accurate," DelPrete said. "But it's not at the championship level it needs to be at to compete in Division 1 in Central Mass. Hopefully it will continue to improve because we're only going to get as far as our defense takes us."

The defense's inexperience has placed a premium on the Colonials' play on offense, which is led by senior captains Ashlyn Desrosier, Nicola D'Errico and Gianna D'Errico, and freshman Emily Benjamin. All are forwards.

Desrosier and the D'Erricos were all named Central Mass. All-Stars last season.

Also providing offense from mid-field positions are juniors Maura Fox, Erin Kinback, Brianna Docimo and Jamie Kerr.

Other senior forwards hand

DelPrete will look for a spark from include Ashley Baker, Alex Barhoff and Jenn McBride.

Nicola D'Errico leads the team in scoring with eight goals and six assists, while Benjamin has scored five goals and recorded one assist. Fox has three goals and two assists while Kinback has two goals and five assists.

Because of a knee injury, Gianna D'Errico has played just 20 minutes the entire season. Kerr returned to the lineup this season after missing last season recovering from an ACL injury.

"One of the ways we're approaching this season is that the other team can't score if they don't have the ball," Del- Prete said. "So we're going to need our off ense to control the ball, help us win the possession game, and then finish off the plays when they have the opportunity by putting the ball in the net."