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If the 2024 NHIAA Division One girls’ varsity soccer season taught us something, it’s that anything can happen.
Sixth-seeded Pinkerton was crowned state champion in a wild tournament that saw the top three seeds bow in the quarterfinals. It was the year of the Cinderella. This year, much of the same can be expected. You’ve got your powerhouses at the top as usual, but even more this year than last, there are no nights off in Division 1.
There are boatloads of talent in all grade levels across the state, which primes us for possibly one of the most memorable seasons ever. Here you get to see what the coaches are saying.
Our preview today is brought to you by our longtime partners, the Sports Medicine team at Exeter Hospital!
Division I Predicted Order
1 Pinkerton
2 Winnacunnet
3 Bedford
4 Portsmouth
5 Bishop Guertin
6 Goffstown
7 Exeter
8 Hanover
9 Timberlane
10 Nashua North
Outside looking in: Concord, Dover, Merrimack, Windham,
The Pinkerton Academy Astros capped off a historic, storybook season with their third Division 1 state championship since 2015. It was a massive shock around the state because the Astros were so young and inexperienced at the varsity level.
The scary part for the state is that they return almost everybody from last year’s team. This year they won’t be a surprise team to anybody.
When asked if there’s a target on their back, head coach Danielle Rappa seemed more intent on focusing internally. “People are gonna want to come out and work, even harder to beat us, ’cause we were the state champs last year,” she started, going on to say “But we’re just focused on our goals. We’ve made a lot of individual and team goals, and trying not to get too caught up in our staff from last year, just focusing on those things we want to do this year.”
This team is very balanced, as they were last year. Rappa spoke on the makeup of the team: “We had 15 different goal scorers on our team. And basically the same for assists.
So it is nice to have such a well rounded team.”
Starting with the defense, the entire starting backline returns. The most key returner at centerback is Kate McDonough, an all state selection in her freshmen and sophomore year. Alongside her are Mo Smith at centerback, a tall athlete, and Anna Martel and Sydney Sullivan, both at fullback. Behind them is returning goalie Sydney Mlynarski.
Offensively, Bella Sippel, the leading scorer last year at 14 goals, returns for the Astros as a key piece. “She’s very fast. She is a track athlete as well, and she definitely uses that speed to her advantage to get past defenders.” Rappa said. “She’s also very tough, so she’ll put a body on the ball, not afraid to go shoulder to shoulder with the defenders.”
Sophomore Cara Mann returns as a sophomore after six freshman goals last season. “She really started getting more playing time in the second half of this season. She’s really strong, very fast. Kind of like the outside kind of power shot and also put it away close to the net.”
The forwards position on this team is exceptionally deep and experienced. Senior forward Nora Brayall also had six goals last season, as did her counterpart in senior forward Cali Lockwood.
In the midfield, this is where Pinkerton will look a little different, as most of their contributors at that position graduated. This summer, Riley McLellan will move into the position in a new role from her usual spot as a wing. “She’s a fantastic technical player, very skilled on the ball. Very quick, agile, and she’s learning that position quickly,” stated Rappa. Junior Audrey Earehart will also play a bigger role in stepping in to replace some of the graduated players in the middle of the field.
“She kind of worked herself in that spot. Great vision of the field, quick passing,” said Rappa of Earehart Got a decent number of assists and goals for us throughout last season, so he’s definitely ready to kind of step in and even more time on the field.”
Focus will be a key for Pinkerton in 2025. They are as loaded as any team in the state, and are the division one favorites. Rappa is intent on making sure her team will “Not be complacent and think just because we won last year that it’s gonna be easy,” she said. “A lot of refreshing from last season, for sure. We’ve still got a lot of hard work to do.