By Jesse Kucewicz, Contributing Writer
MARLBOROUGH – The Marlborough High School girl’s soccer team has roared out of the gage for three straight wins as of Sept. 17, outscoring their opponents 13 goals to six throughout those matchups.
Leading the team in scoring is sophomore forward Ava Vanbuskirk, who had tallied 11 goals through those games, including a career high seven goals in Marlborough’s 7-2 victory over Shepherd Hill on Sept 14.
Head Coach Gerry Padilla spoke after the team’s 3-2 victory over AMSA, where Vanbuskirk scored the final two Marlborough goals to claim victory.
“She’s a special player,” Padilla said of Vanbuskirk. “She’s got that gift of speed which you can’t teach, but she knows how to finish as well.”
This will be Vanbuskirk’s first full season with the Panthers after a modified season last year due to COVID-19. Regardless, she had troubled every defense Marlborough had faced as of Sept. 17.
“It was just surreal, nothing I would ever imagine to happen,” Vanbuskirk said of her seven-goal game against Shepherd Hill. “It felt awesome, I just feel like we are working so good together as a team.”
This early in the season, both Padilla and Vanbuskirk have high hopes for how the team will continue to perform throughout the year.
“We work our hardest the entire game and it really shows in the outcomes of our games,” Vanbuskirk said. “I just want to try to improve every game, and I want to help the team as much as I can and see how far we can go.”
