The team will be saying goodbye to five seniors this year: number seven Maya Baker, number nine Alexa Skinner, number 10 Rachel Souza, number 16 Elizabeth Kopicko and number 24 Kendall Healey. These four years have been quite a journey for these Owls, forcing them to battle not just on the field,“With COVID, and what we went through with losing a teammate in the spring, they’ve grown up a lot. It’s been so nice to see them mature to be leaders and to the people that they are, but it hasn’t been an easy road for them,” said head coach Sarah Testo. She made it clear that each one of these girls has left an impact on and off the field.
Senior Alexa Skinner is a two-year captain; being a multi-year shows that she knows how to be a leader and someone players can come to. “I would like to say I’m a pretty good leader on and off the field. Being a second year captain, I think that’s also helped. But also as a leader just pushing people to always try their best in practice and in games, taking it as seriously as they should,” she said.
Her success has been recognized by the LEC multiple times over the course of her four years here. “We’ve definitely had some ups and downs throughout the seasons, but we just figure it all out, finding the positives and just try to push through everything.
We’re definitely a family, and with being so close that definitely helps playing together on the field, but also the bond off the field as well,” said Skinner. Being able to bond off the field can change a lot for a team, but also makes leaving that much harder. There will be some big shoes to fill next season, but Testo shared that these girls have paved the way for years to follow, bringing the Owls higher in the conference and finding more success each year. “It’s hard to let go. But also, I can only be proud of them,” said Testo.
“Three of them [seniors] start out of the five; one’s injured. The one that doesn’t start always has an immediate impact on the team as soon as she comes into the game,” said Skinner.
Maya Baker unfortunately was injured early on this season, but that hasn’t stopped her from always being on the sideline supporting her team in any way that she can. “Maya is one of the hardest working kids I’ve ever been able to coach. Unfortunately, had the injury in our second game of the season. Yet she’s still a leader on the sideline, always trying to keep the girls up,” Testo said. The coach also shared how far each of the girls have come, with Souza becoming a strong and vocal defensive player, helping keep control.
Midfielder Kopicko directs everyone while she’s out there, confidently taking charge, and forward/midfielder Healey became a strong force on the field, always leaving an impact. Lastly, two-year captain Skinner, a defensive player, has always been a strong asset to the team, being a vocal leader.
The Owls fell to Husson on Sunday, losing 3-2. Husson got their first goal 54 seconds into the game, the Owls seeming to still be waking up. A few minutes later Skinner made a pass to sophomore Riley Devine who tied the game at 1-1. Shortly after this first-year Bryn Dickinson fired a shot across the eagles box, finding Kopicko who headed the ball back across the box where sophomore Emily Ahlman finished it off, bringing the Owls above Husson 2-1. This score carried into halftime.
In the second half, a goal kick was switched to a corner kick by the referee on the field. The corner kick ended up leading to a goal by Devon St. Louis, tying the game.
Only a minute later, another pass once again found St. Louis who in turn found the goal bringing Husson above the Owls 3-2. The Owls attempted to tie the game back up with a free kick but were unsuccessful. The final score of the afternoon was 3-2 Husson.
Nikolas O’Connor can be contacted at
noconnor@kscequinox.com
