Following their 5-0 victory over Nantucket on Oct. 25, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) girls soccer team has earned the Cape and Island’s League title for the first time since time in program history. The team kicked off its postseason with a home game against Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School on Monday.
The girls soccer team ended their regular season within the Cape and Island’s League with a 10-1-1 record, achieving a nearly undefeated run. Their only loss this season came against Sandwich High School. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) ranked the Vineyarders 25th out of 75 teams in Division 3.
Head coach and MVRHS school adjustment counselor Matthew Malowski said that the team’s success extends back to previous generations of players.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Coach Malowski. “Girls soccer started here as a club in 1984 and became an official sport in 1985, so it’s nearly 40 years in the making. All those previous generations, all those trailblazers, all those female athletes who built this program at MVRHS — this is a contribution from all of them as well as this year’s group.”
Senior captain and midfielder Elle Mone feels that the sense of community, both on and off the field, was another key factor in their success this season. “We have really good team chemistry on the field. A lot of us have been playing with each other for so long. Everyone kind of connected off the field — including the newer players — and so then we play well with each other on the field,” she said.
Senior and defender Esme Colon also attested to the team’s chemistry. “On the field I feel like we are really calm and patient with each other. We are really positive toward each other, even when we make mistakes or mess up,” she said.
Coach Malowski emphasizes player mindset as one major contributor to the team’s success. “The majority of the girls, collectively, embody a growth mindset. And so, because they know that they might not be particularly great at something, they’re willing to work on it. They don’t just give up or quit, they keep working on trying to do better,” he said. “As a coach, I couldn’t ask for a better quality in a player.”
Freshman players quickly assimilated to the team’s attitude and perseverance. Freshman Avery Conley said, “Everyone’s there to learn and grow. When I see everyone else trying to improve, I just want to improve too.”
Laney Light, another freshman on the team, said, “[Varsity soccer] is more advanced and more competitive, so you want to be as good as the other people — you try to work harder.”
Elle recalled the team’s improvement throughout the years since she started playing on the team. “My freshman year was the first time the girls team made the playoffs in so long, and we keep making it, and this year we won the league. I feel like it just keeps getting better. I hope that they will keep getting better in the coming years, too,” she said.
From the inception of the program in the mid-1980s to winning the league title roughly four decades later, the MVRHS’ girls soccer program has finally gone all the way. As the Vineyarders head into their postseason games, players and spectators are full of both pride and excitement for what is to come.
Coach Malowski said, “I think there’s just a lot of pride and happiness, especially for our female athletes, to finally have a banner in the gym.”
The High School View is staffed and prepared entirely by students from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, and published on their behalf by the Martha’s Vineyard Times, with generous assistance from sponsors.