Above: Raina El-Bizri advances the ball. Photo by Chuck Nadeau

The Girls Soccer team lost a close match up against Moses Brown 1-0 on Thursday (10/19/23), another disappointing finish for the Avengers, but the bright spot was celebrating the team’s 8 seniors: Teaghan Bristol, Julia Moore, Lauren Lanfredi, Sophia Marano, Maya Nula, Raina El-Bizri, Paige Flynn, and Paula Petit. 

“After letting in an early goal in the first five minutes of play, we found our groove offensively to some extent – we hit either the crossbar or the side post four times throughout the game, and missed a few more close chances unfortunately,” said Coach Karen Lockhart. She noted the “just missed” phrase has been representative of many of their games this season. 

“We are so close in every game,” she said. “Besides our 5 ties, we have lost every game by a 1-goal margin. It just shows how tough our Division 1 schedule can be sometimes.” 

Still, Lockhart acknowledged, the team just wasn’t able to close the gap when needed. 

“Soccer can be a cruel sport sometimes; you can lose close games even when you play well,” she, noting “1 bad minute can affect the outcome of the other 79 minutes. That is a hard lesson to learn, but I’ve tried to remind the team that is a part of life. We get to pick ourselves up and keep fighting – so I honestly couldn’t be prouder of the grit they have shown this season.” 

With this loss, the team is out of the playoff race – at first in recent years. 

“While our record is obviously not what we had hoped for, I don’t think it is entirely representative of our team growth this season,” Lockhart said. “Despite the losses, we have built a far more positive foundation this year, which will help set us on a better path towards success for next year.” 

The team plays its final game of the season Wednesday at Carcieri Field at 6:30 p.m. 

“We are going to keep fighting for the win until the last whistle,” said Lockhart.

The seniors of 2023 with Coach Karen Lockhart. Photo by Chuck Nadeau

Mia Berte takes the ball from a Moses player. Photo by Chuck Nadeau

Ella Kauffman kicks to the right corner. Photo by Chuck Nadeau

Raina El-Bizri makes a perfect header. Photo by Chuck Nadeau

Ella Kauffman takes to the sideline. Photo by Chuck Nadeau