Monday Night was Senior Night for the Danvers Varsity Girls Soccer team.  The underclassmen on the squad decorated the stadium with blue and white streamers and balloons, and there were professional banners made of the 10 seniors on the team. The underclassmen made personalized posters for each senior, filled with pictures of recent years on the varsity team as well as youth pictures of them when they were little. The DHS boosters program bought flowers for the Danvers seniors to give to the five Salem seniors. And each falcon Sr was given a beautiful bouquet of flowers to give to their families followed by a family picture.

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“The stadium looked fantastic. The younger players and boosters really put a lot of hard work into decorating, and there were a lot of happy tears when the seniors showed up to the field today. My words of advice to our seniors were to be good to your families. As hard as it is for each of you to have your high school career winding down, it’s probably much harder for your parents and families to adjust to.”

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Danvers applied pressure in the Salem end of the field right away and got plenty of chances on net. The eight Danvers seniors took the field by storm and played with passion and purpose. But it wasn’t until freshman, Rylee Sullivan stepped on the field that a goal was scored. Sullivan put the team up 1-0 in the 14th minute assisted by DeAnna Figueiredo. The witches rarely crossed the midfield and when they did, defenders, Ali Doucette, Lily Delefano, Lila, Flynn, and Sabina Sturgeon stopped them in their tracks. Junior goalkeeper Taylor Landry only needed to make four saves in the first half. 

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With seven minutes to play in a half, Sr Lila Doucette made it 2 to 0 on a goal set up by Rylee Sullivan. Doucette finished the play with an exciting celebration with her teammates and fans. With the two goal lead, Danvers was in control but still would need to add a couple more for safety in the second half.

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It didn’t take long as junior Emma Sutherland made it 3 to 0 when she scored off an assist from de Figueiredo. One minute later, Sr, Claudia Drakes out hustled her defender and put Home a hard shot assisted by Sr Lila Flynn. Only eight minutes after that sophomore Flavia Locilento scored her first varsity goal on a play set up by Lila Doucette and sophomore Cassidy Randall. The Falcons finished off the scoring in the 17th minute. Addi McCarty hit a rocket off a direct kick from 30 odds out to wow the crowd and give Danvers their sixth goal. 

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Sr Lila Doucette came in to relieve goalie Landry with about 15 minutes to play. She faced no shots keeping the shut out intact. Sophomore Kaitlyn Rosa had a strong second half at the wing forward. Sophomores Maddie Hanas, Ali Doucette, Danny Scarpaci, and Randall manned the back line for the final part of the game to keep Salem out of the scoring range. Freshman Maggie Lamar, sophomores Kaia Glover and Sophia Blodgett and seniors Ashley Freitas, Addi McCarty and Lily Delefano controlled the midfield in both halves.

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Tonight was a great team effort. Salem is having their best season in many years and we knew they would defend us hard.  Our seniors set the tone for us and we played all full 80 minutes of good soccer. Sr Sabina Sturgeon had an amazing game for us today. She dominated the right side of the field for us and really played with a high intensity. Sr Addi McCarty was a force today as well. Her goal was a stunner. I was also excited to see Sr Lila Doucette have a big game. She is an emotional leader for us and we’re gonna need her playing at her very best into November.

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Our eight senior players plus our two senior managers Mello’s Owen and Kayda Brown are all great examples of what a student athlete should be. These girls are leaders, have excellent attitudes and bring a lot of character to the field each and every day. I’m super happy that they enjoyed the night.
 

Danvers improved to 9– 5–2. They will have their hands full next Saturday when they host unbeaten bishop Feehan at 3 PM.