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Four state champs are back for more: Girls soccer top 10 rankings

eric mchugh, the patriot ledger
·8 min read

The gang's all here again.

The first Patriot Ledger/Enterprise Girls Soccer Top 10 ranking of the 2023 season bears a strong resemblance to the final one from 2022. That makes sense since last fall might have been the high point of the sport here on the South Shore.

Area teams won four of the five MIAA state championships, with Hingham (Division 1), Silver Lake (Div. 2), Hanover (Div. 3) and Cohasset (Div. 4) all wearing crowns. Oliver Ames was runner-up in Div. 2, and Hull and Blue Hills gave it a good shot in Div. 5, each losing in the Round of 16.

More: New England Patriots High School Coach of the Week hails from the South Shore

Most of those postseason powerhouses are back in the top 10 now. Only time will tell if they have staying power.

Here we go with this year's list. Current records (as of Thursday morning) and last year's final rankings are in parentheses:

1. Hingham (0-1, 1)

Might as well give the new No. 1 spot to the undefeated Div. 1 state champs even though they won't be undefeated this season. Second-year Hingham coach Mary-Frances Monroe has to replace 11 graduated seniors, including midfielder/forward Sophie Reale, last year's Gatorade Player of the Year for Massachusetts, who's now playing at UCLA. Reale had the lone goal in the Harborwomen's 1-0 victory over Algonquin Regional in the final to cap a 19-0-4 campaign. Midfielder/forward Claire Murray, an All-New England selection, will be a focal point after a standout junior season (19 goals, 8 assists). Reese Pompeo returns to anchor a back line that helped pitch 14 shutouts a year ago. The Harborwomen dropped their 2023 opener, 1-0, to Marshfield on Tuesday.

More: New players have to step up if Hingham girls soccer hopes to retain Div. 1 state title

2. Hanover (3-0, 3)

The Hawks were nearly impossible to score against during last season's Div. 2 title run, allowing a single goal across five playoff games. New goalkeeper Natalie Mutschler was a backup then, but she came off the bench to handle a penalty shootout victory over Dover-Sherborn. Mutschler, a Villanova commit, is making the most of her starting gig in 2023, authoring three shutouts already as Hanover has opened with impressive wins over Whitman-Hanson (3-0), Norwell (1-0) and Plymouth South (2-0). All-State midfielder/forward Sophia Foley (21 goals, 8 assists in 2022) will be the focus of the attack − she had both goals against Plymouth South on Tuesday − but coach Mary Cullity also likes the Hawks' other attacking options up front.

More: New goalkeeper already has made a splash for reigning state champ Hanover girls soccer

3. Notre Dame Academy (2-1, 6)

The Cougars didn't win a state championship last season, but they were impressive nonetheless in a 15-3-3 campaign in which they handed Cohasset its only loss, beat Hanover, went 1-0-1 vs. Norwell and tied Silver Lake. NDA made it to the Div. 2 Round of 8 before losing to Grafton on penalties. Star midfielder Lindsay Wilson (17 goals, 17 assists, named the MIAA Div. 2 Player of the Year) is now at William & Mary. But Sydney Comeau is back after scoring a team-high 28 goals last season and joining Wilson on the All-New England team. NDA had notched wins over Duxbury (4-1) and Malden Catholic (8-0) before losing a showdown at Natick, 3-0, on Monday.

4. Cohasset (4-0, 4)

The Skippers already have had something to celebrate as Maryland-bound junior midfielder Tess Barrett, the reigning Div. 4 Player of the Year, registered her 100th career point in Monday's win over Mashpee, becoming the first Skipper to reach that mark. Barrett will be team's engine this fall as Cohasset (17-1-3 last season) has had to remake the rest of its midfield. The back line is also a work in progress, and goalkeeper Kylee Ziadyis a first-time starter. Still, the Skippers are off to a fast start with freshmen Ava Carcio (forward) and Regan Carroll (midfield) making a big impact. Carcio is up to five goals already, and Barrett has poured in 13.

More: Numbers game: Cohasset soccer star Tess Barrett hits scoring milestone in blowout win

5. Norwell (2-1, 7)

The Clippers (10-3-8 in 2022) are ahead of last season's pace, when their 2021 Div. 3 state title defense began with five straight ties to start the season. Norwell, which lost in the Round of 16 last year, has wins over Weymouth and East Bridgewater and a 1-0 loss to Hanover so far. Graduated All-State midfielder Chloe Kirchner led the team in goals (13) and assists (11) last season en route to being named the South Shore League Sullivan Division MVP. She will be missed, but senior back Smilla Spasic returns after helping Norwell post 10 shutouts a year ago while chipping in 4 goals and 3 assists. Up front, senior forward Paige Flanders (5 goals, 6 assists) will provide a big boost.

6. Silver Lake (1-0-1, 2)

Atop the Lakers' to-do list as defending Div. 2 champs is replacing the goal production of graduated star striker Shea Kelleher, the program's all-time leader scorer with 71 goals (25 last season). The good news is that sophomore winger Avery DePaul is back after a breakout postseason run in which she scored the only goals in both the state semifinal (1-0 over Grafton in OT) and final (1-0 over Oliver Ames). DePaul scored twice in Tuesday's 3-1 win over Plymouth North. Silver Lake (12-3-8 last season) also is missing half of its standout 2022 back line, but sophomore outside back Caitlin Snow and senior center back Alli Powderly return.

More: After ending school's lengthy title drought, Silver Lake girls soccer aims for a D2 repeat

Marshfield's Lyndsay Bekerian (No. 4) celebrates her goal that gave the Rams a 1-0 upset win at Hingham in the season opener for both teams on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.
Marshfield's Lyndsay Bekerian (No. 4) celebrates her goal that gave the Rams a 1-0 upset win at Hingham in the season opener for both teams on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.

7. Marshfield (1-0, NR)

First-year coach Perry Gaffoor made a great first impression Tuesday. An assistant on Hingham's state-championship team a year ago, he guided the Rams to a 1-0 season-opening road win over his former club. He called it a "special game." The Rams were 9-8-3 a year ago, winning a Div. 1 preliminary round game but losing to eventual semifinalist Wellesley in the Round of 32. Striker Samantha Zaslaw (17 goals, 9 assists in 2022) has graduated, but Gaffoor is counting on Ryann Doyle, Marissa Medeiros and Camryn Picard. Lyndsay Bekerian had the winning goal vs. Hingham off a corner kick.

Oliver Ames' Lucinda Li Cotter dribbles the ball during a game against Silver Lake on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022.
Oliver Ames' Lucinda Li Cotter dribbles the ball during a game against Silver Lake on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022.

8. Oliver Ames (1-1, 5)

The Tigers were perhaps a bit ahead of schedule last year when they earned a spot in the Div. 2 state final with a young roster. OA fell to Silver Lake, but the future is bright with stars such as senior Lucinda Li Cotter (8 goals, 9 assists in 2022), junior Emma Gavin (10 goals, 4 assists) and sophomore Jolie Diaz (7 goals, 7 assists). It was Gavin's goal that beat Stoughton, 1-0, on Tuesday. Coach Britt Sellmayer predicts that Janiya Morales-Matier will be one of the top goalkeepers in EMass. She'll be working behind a rebuilt back four that will be missing standout junior center back Taylor deVos (stress fracture in her back) for at least another three weeks.

More: Despite missing deVos for first month, OA girls soccer out to recapture 2022 title hopes

Whitman-Hanson's Makenna Marshall takes a shot on net around Plymouth South defender Isabella Kudrikow on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022.
Whitman-Hanson's Makenna Marshall takes a shot on net around Plymouth South defender Isabella Kudrikow on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022.

9. Whitman-Hanson (1-1, NR)

The Panthers won a state title in 2021 (beating Silver Lake in the Div. 2 final) but slipped to 4-11-5 last season, although their strength of schedule in the Patriot League still netted them a playoff berth. They won a preliminary round game before falling to NDA. W-H got in the win column Tuesday, beating Duxbury 2-0 behind a pair of goals from Elizabeth Kowlski and a 13-save shutout from Ayla Dernier. Senior midfielder Makenna Marshall is back after leading the Panthers in scoring last year with 8 goals and 5 assists for 13 points, and Savannah Kamperides, Brooke Bell, Brooke MacAloney and Lexi Cole form a strong defensive corps.

10. Canton (2-0, 9)

The Bulldogs were 11-4-5 last year, earning a No. 9 seed in Div. 2 and losing to Duxbury in the Round of 16. They kicked this season off with a solid 2-0 win over North Attleboro and then beat Sharon 4-0 on Tuesday. Forward Emily McCabe has moved on after a 21-7−28 scoring line last season boosted her to 57 career points. Midfielder Mekhala Costello will play a significant role after scoring 5 goals and adding 8 assists last year; she had a goal and an assist in the opener. Canton will try to avoid another October lull; the Bulldogs were 0-2-3 in that month last season.

On the bench: Bridgewater-Raynham (3-0), Archbishop Williams (1-0-2), Scituate (1-0-1), Milton (1-1-1), West Bridgewater (1-0), Blue Hills (2-0), Hull (1-1), Braintree (1-1), Weymouth (0-1), Rockland (1-0).

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: South Shore high school girls soccer top 10 rankings