By John Shimer
Staff writer
November 07, 2008 12:15 am November may be the ugliest month of the year in New England with all the pretty foliage piling up in back yards, but it is also the time when the Newburyport girls soccer team takes its pin-point passing and shooting mentality to another level. Only two teams from the River Rivals qualified for the state tournament with Georgetown joining Newburyport for a third straight year in the Division 3 competition, but that doesn't mean there will be a lack of quality games. Both teams made runs of at least three games in the last two state tournaments, and both look poised to do so again with favorable pairings. Newburyport is not only the defending state champion, but also the two-time defending North title holder and a clear favorite to do so again despite its first losing streak in more than four years. Georgetown should likely have no problem cruising into the second round with likely back-to-back games against Catholic Central Small opponents Matignon and Lowell Catholic. With that in mind let's look at the key players. Newburyport: Jillian Kinter, Taylor Bresnahan, Laura Muise, Veronica Poirier and Taylor Whitehill This is it for the big three of Kinter, Bresnahan and Muise — three of Newburyport's five all-time top scorers. It's also the last hurrah for nine other seniors including Taylor Whitehill, who has emerged as one of the Cape Ann League's most dominant defenders playing in Robb Gonnam's central back position. The fact that Kinter was diagnosed recently with both pneumonia and bronchitis is probably the only real concern. However, there's no question each of these girls will put on a show in their final go-around to try to etch their place in Clipper folklore. Poirier represents the most versatile of Gonnam's "Big Five," playing up top where she nearly matched Kinter goal-for-goal this season or rotating back to central defense in the most crucial moments of games. Emerging as the future of the Clipper program after the 2008 class moves on, Poirier will be relied upon to do multiple duty throughout the tournament depending on what position Newburyport is in. Georgetown: Nicoline Holland, Shannon Hartford, Alyssa Rosenthal, Emma Cannon and Casey Decareau A young bunch, the Royals got through a rough patch in the middle of the season when they lost four straight to Lynnfield, North Andover, North Reading and Masconomet by a combined score of 20-2. Hartford and Rosenthal, the two senior captains, led the team to wins in four of the final five. only losing to Division 1 state qualifier Haverhill, 1-0. However, Georgetown will need big performances out of its underclassmen like Holland, who has had stretches in which she showed an ability to score goals in bunches. Decareau will also have to continue her play-making by creating opportunities from the middle. Cannon will have to continue to play excellent defense alongside Rosenthal.
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