By Riley Phillips ’27
Last Wednesday, the Girls Varsity Soccer (GVS) team faced off against Kents Hill in the MAISAD Semifinals. Just two Wednesdays ago, we played Kents Hill and lost with a final score of 4-6. After a rough season of losses, we arrived at Kents Hill ready to turn our season around. With a TWEET from the ref’s whistle, the game kicked off. Within the first 5 minutes, Kents Hill sunk one into the back of our net off of a corner kick. While this quick goal was demoralizing, we kept our heads up and continued to fight. With only 6 minutes left in the first half, Kents Hill scored yet another goal off of a penalty kick as a result of a foul within the 18-yard box.
Going into the second half with a score of 0-2 was quite unencouraging, but in the 55th minute, Oda Maier ‘26 scored off a corner kick! Putting one on the board perked the whole team up and Evie Willer ‘26 scored another beautiful goal just over 15 minutes later. With the score now 2-2, it was anyone’s game. Unfortunately, Kents Hill scored again, making it 2-3 and putting Hebron in the losing position once more. We continued pushing offensively and were granted a direct kick just outside of their 18-yard box. Evie Willer took the kick and Riley Phillips ‘27 (me) tapped it into the goal, tying up the game once more to 3-3. We ended regulation playing time as a tie, meaning we were heading into overtime!
The whole team was brimming with excitement but also very exhausted from having already played 90 minutes of soccer and now being asked to play 20 minutes more. Hebron’s girls were looking strong in overtime though, getting off quite a few shots on goal. In the second 10-minute half of overtime, 3 or 4 Hebron girls collided with 2 Kents Hill girls within our box. It was all very confusing, but the ref granted Kents Hill another penalty kick. In the 103rd minute of playing time, the opposing team scored, making the score 4-3. That score would be the final score. The ref’s whistle blew one last time, marking the end of our soccer season and the end of one of the most exciting games of soccer in GVS history.