By John Orrell, Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – The remainder of the 2016 campaign projects to be a fight to the finish for the Shrewsbury High School (SHS) girls’ varsity soccer team. The nice part is that they know it and have clearly embraced the challenge.
The Colonials record slipped to 4-4-3 following an Oct. 13, 4-1 loss to top-ranked and Mid-Wach A champion Wachusett Regional. Time is running out on the regular season and players, especially senior captains, know that a number of victories must occur to carry the team into the District Tournament.
“We really need to come out strong and fight for every single win or point that gets us to a playoff spot,” three-sport captain Joan Laramee explained. “It’s really hard sometimes. We took a tough loss the other day and then had a game the day after and we just encouraged the girls to put it behind us, learn from what we did wrong and move on.
“With this team, we never give up. Every single person really gives it their all and that’s so important especially as a captain of the team, that’s what I really love to see. Everybody truly wants to be here and fights for each other. That’s what being a team is all about.”
In agreement is second-season head coach Jim McKinley who came to Shrewsbury in 2015 following a five-year head coaching stint at Nashoba Regional where his boys’ teams notched an impressive 35-12-17 record. He has been named Midland-A League coach of the year twice and has coached the Shrewsbury boys’ team (199-1995), so he clearly knows the Colonial way very well.
“We need to emphasize fundamentals. Stay organized, good communications, technically be sharp and be patient for our opportunities,” he emphasized. “To put together any kind of win streak, we just need a little bit more cohesiveness on the field and I think that will come.
“The girls are always very motivated. They’re really good athletes. These players are passionate. They have good desire compared to other teams that I’ve seen. They just need to develop a little bit more of a knockout punch. Down the stretch here, I think it will be really good for us. We need most of all to stay organized and not make any silly mistakes.”
McKinley’s first season guiding the Colonials was admittedly a learning curve for coach and players, but this year there appears to be more compatibility on and off the field, Laramee explained.
“It was a little hard last year because we had a new coach and we had a very young team. But as the season progressed we’ve gotten closer because we’re with each other every single day and it’s really important. We see that out on the field because we truly all care about the game but we also care about each other.”
“Overall, the season has been great,” added co-captain Autumn Dauksz. “We’ve improved from last year by so much. It’s really great to see the team come together and we’re all playing as a team.
“We absolutely give 110 percent all the time and I see it from everyone and I like the way everyone picks each other up. If someone’s having a bad day, we encourage each other and tell ourselves that we can get through this. Collectively, we need to just focus on calming down and not panicking. We also need to work on moving the ball around and find each other on the field.”
Members of the 2016 Shrewsbury High girls varsity soccer team are seniors Sydney Murner, Sophia Marshall, Autumn Dauksz, Caroline Calderwood, Mackenzie Huard, Joan Laramee; juniors Anna Lizotte, Margaret Easson, Sophie Rocco, Lauren King, Erin Duffy, Brielle Carelli, Jessica Turco, Grace Foley, Kathryn Cawley, Kristin O’Connor, Claire Lowe, Elizabeth Bonhomme; sophomores Cailin Zadravec, Julia Perugini, Haley Collins, Rebecca Steinberg and freshman Erin Bodyk,