Madison Drops a Close Game Against Kent Place, 13-10

Pulling up to the Kent Place school in a coach bus (thank you Madison) the girls felt posh as they walked onto the field in twos. As some girls’ swapped out their sneakers for turf-shoes or cleats, others were applying the much needed sunscreen. Other than winning – skincare was of utmost importance.

While their past two games were on their home field, this was their first away game and there was a feeling of uneasiness that came from playing on a different turf. Two minutes into the first half, freshman Gabbi Mariani got one behind the net. Senior captain Brooke Kleiven got three back to back – stunning the Dragons with tough drives and shot placement. With four explosive goals under Madison’s belt, mentality was high and anxiety was low.

In between these goals, Kent Place gave Madison a taste of two of their star players: Lily Gomes and Emma Claire Quinn. Gomes was a silent but deadly player on the field, pocketing six of Kent Place’s thirteen goals. Quinn, a sophomore, is one of the leading scorers for Kent Place and had three goals throughout the game.

Ten minutes into the game, the score was 4:3, Madison up. In the span of a minute, freshman Gabbi Mariani scored two consecutive goals – both assisted by her “parachute,” junior Gwen Eilender. With 6:27 minutes left in the half, Kent Place called their first time out. The break was seemingly good for the Kent Place girls, when the girls got back and scored three goals. At the end of the first half, the game was tied 6:6.

Kent Place came back to the second half with power. Mariani had the first goal of the second half, followed by Gwen Eilender’s single goal of the game. In the next ten minutes, Kent Place were the only points on the scoreboard. Three from Lily Gomes followed by two others from her teammates. Players on and off the field were kept on their toes. Kent Place was up by one.

Senior captain Bridget Hanley scored her first goal of the game with ten minutes left in the half, and Mariani scored her last goal of the game soon after. Ultimately, the Kent Place Dragons came out on top as they scored two more goals before the game ended. The final score was 13:10.

Despite the loss, there were many players who had excellent performances. Sophomore goalie Sophia Modi had one her highest amount of saves in a game this season with eleven this game. She has had 31 saves so far this season. Sophomore Katherine Finnegan had two caused turnovers along with one interception. Freshman SK Preston one caused turnover and two ground ball controls.

Most of the team was hoping that the “third time’s the charm”. Maybe the fourth time is?