After a difficult 2020/21 season due to Covid, Natick High School boys and girls soccer teams were ready to bounce back and finally have a regular season. No more challenges such as a shortened season, masks while playing, altered rules, and no fans—it was good to get back to the norm. Both teams, with plenty of new faces on Varsity, were motivated to get their Division 1 seasons underway with a game against Walpole. Now, with both teams' seasons completed, we look back and compare the two teams, and the drastically different seasons they had. The boys team went on to put up a season in which they went 2-10-3, getting one more win than the year before, but failing to make the playoffs, while the girls team, going 16-1-5, went on to win the state championship for the first time in program history. As a player on the boys team, I was close to both teams, and will analyze the differences between the two teams and the characteristics that led the girls to a state title. 

One of the biggest differences between the boys and girls teams this season was the style of play. The boys struggled to develop a style of play and never managed to develop a system that played to their strengths. Switching formation helped the team, but the squad never found the defensive structure that could have helped them survive in games against superior opposition, especially in one of the state’s toughest conferences. The girls team, in contrast, developed a really successful style of play as the season went on. A crucial part of their success came from every player giving into the system. Watching the girls play, you could tell that every player knew their role, deeply understood their position on the field, and backed each other up. Their team grew stronger and stronger as the games went on. 

Don’t get me wrong, the girls didn’t play fancy, possession-based soccer, but they had a style of play that was effective and that played to their strengths. As the season progressed, the girls team recognized their strengths and their weaknesses and changed their way of playing accordingly. They knew that their biggest strength was their defense. Led by the brick wall in goal, Allison Jeter, and by captain and center back Kyra Hacker, along with others, the girls knew that they could always rely on their defense. This meant that they were comfortable and confident without the ball. The girls’ team knew that they didn’t necessarily have to dominante the game in terms of possession because they could trust their defense to hold out. They knew that if they could just get one or two chances, their individual brilliance up top, mainly of Emma Grant and Zoe Graves, would push them over the line. 

When I talk about their tough defending, I am not talking only about the defenders, but about how the whole team defended. The team defended from the front, with the forwards, Emma Grant, Eliza Campana, and Zoe Graves, working tirelessly to press from the front and get behind the ball when needed. In midfield, captains Briar Grady and Mikayla Henderson used their physical strength, as well as their pure determination, to win 50/50 balls and set the tone in the middle of the field. With the whole team defending as a unit, Natick became almost impossible to score against, having 10 games where they conceded 0 goals, including every playoff game up until the final. With this style of play in mind, the girls grew stronger and stronger and more and more comfortable in the system. Come playoffs, they became so in tune that they started to dominate games, using their technical brilliance from players like Kyra Hacker, Olivia Penn, and Zoe Graves to keep the ball and tire the opponent out. This kind of unity on the field is something that the boys team never accomplished, unfortunately. The girls built a system in which every player knew their role, was comfortable, and would give everything for their teammates. Where the girls grew confident as the season advanced, the boys struggled to find cohesiveness, despite some highlights like the tribute on Senior Night to Giovanni Taboh and beating Wellesley that night. 

In the end, the girls team made Natick history, and the boys could learn from their example for next season. As the only team in the conversation in 2021 when it comes to Natick High School Soccer and more importantly, as Massachusetts State Champs, we should all congratulate Varsity Girls Soccer for their amazing season and inspiring victory.