WESTBOROUGH – Talented. Hard-working. Cohesive.
It’d be fair to describe the Westborough girls soccer team using all those words. But as Head Coach Scott Moroney prepared his team for an MIAA Division 2 quarterfinal showdown against No.6 Somerset Berkley, he settled on one particular characteristic that makes the Rangers exceptional.
Borrowing the words of former Red Sox skipper Terry Francona, Moroney said his athletes “just love to play.”
“I think that’s what it really comes down to … It just comes down to the training sessions, where we decided to play with a little bit of emphasis. And they showed me that today … They love to play. At four years old they started to play, so it’s really great to see them come out and play, support each other, and sort out whatever the issues are,” Moroney told the Community Advocate.
And it was all smiles for Westborough on a chilly Wednesday night at Joseph R. Mewhiney Field. The third-seeded Rangers defeated Somerset Berkley 4-2 to advance to the semifinals, claim a Final Four trophy, and keep their season alive. Westborough will face No.2 Duxbury on Nov. 19.
“It’s honestly so awesome. I remember when I was a freshman on JV, and that’s the last time that Westborough girls soccer made it to the Final Four. I thought, ‘Wow, that’s something that I really want to do.’ It feels great knowing that all the work and effort that we’ve put into this season is finally paying off. We’re ready to keep going and hopefully make it further,” said Addi Potenti, one of the team’s captains.
The satisfying win wasn’t without challenges for Westborough. The Rangers – on an eight-match win streak that includes a CMADA Class A championship victory – hadn’t trailed much recently, but Somerset Berkley struck first in this contest, going ahead 1-0 roughly 15 minutes into the action.
Coming into the quarterfinal match at 20-0, Somerset Berkley rarely relinquished leads. But the Rangers weren’t intimidated. Four minutes after the opening score, junior Caroline Queenan – off a stellar pass from Molly Courchesne – headed the ball into the net to knot the match at 1-1.
“I wasn’t surprised that we were down … We knew we were going to get everything. I wasn’t surprised, but I wasn’t scared, because I knew what we could do. And we did that. We did exactly what we wanted to do. We played our game, and we played against a great competitor,” said Moroney.
“We have done really well, and it had been a while since we were down, but I think that it honestly was a shock to some people … But, in our heads, [we knew] that we got this, it’s no different. Just put in the work, put in the effort. We came back quickly, and we just kept going from there,” said Potenti.
Potenti was responsible for the next goal, which came with approximately 10 minutes left in the half. Jessica Braden hit a ball from the sideline that landed between a crowd of people in front of the goal; the ball found sophomore Juliette Cote, who quickly tapped it to Potenti.
Queenan took control of the game from there. The junior, who had dealt with injuries this year and only recently returned to action, scored on a penalty kick to put the team ahead 3-1, and after Somerset Berkley narrowed the Rangers’ lead to 3-2, another Queenan score gave Westborough the win.
And Queenan a hat trick.
“It’s been a little bit of a rocky year with my injuries – it’s been hard,” Queenan said. “But I feel like I’ve always had my team to support me, lift me up, and, even in those moments where I’m struggling in the game with soreness or injuries, my teammates lift me up and I can push through it.”
“The day she was cleared to come back, when she came out in practice – she had the biggest smile I’d ever seen on her. And I’ve known her since she was 13,” Moroney added. “One of the biggest rewards of coming here [as coach last year] is getting to coach her and getting to know all these other girls that are her friends – I can’t say enough about it.”
At the start of the year, Moroney said that he thought the team would be successful if his athletes competed, had confidence, and were committed. As the Rangers posed for pictures with the Massachusetts-shaped trophy, it seemed as if the team had been successful on all three counts.
“They have,” said Moroney. “Absolutely.”
“We have a saying: ‘Let’s play our game.’ And we have everything we need to do it.”
