The Knightly News

With 30 seconds left in the game, the girls’ soccer team conceded a heartbreaking goal in its state tournament match against East Brunswick, a disappointing finale to a mostly successful 11-6 season.

Despite junior captain Morgan Hendry’s injury in the fourth game of the season, the girls won their division championship, and two players set individual records: Junior Meghan Wachira scored 21 goals, the most any North player has scored in a season, and Jillian Wachira set a freshman record with 15 goals.  “I think the team has done well this past season.  [We’ve] all worked so hard and had success where no one besides ourselves saw a chance for success,” senior captain Alex Hendry said.

“One of my biggest concerns coming into the season was our goalkeeping.  [Sophomore Claudia Bianchine] worked hard in practice and improved her performance throughout the season,” coach Kevin Mackenzie said.  “I think Claudia will be one of the best goalkeepers in the league next year.”

Meghan Wachira was especially proud, seeing that she broke the record against Nottingham on the team’s senior day.  “I think to think that we broke the record as a team.  It was an accomplishment that I was determined to meet throughout the season,” she said.

With the “great work ethic of the entire team,” according to Mackenzie, the team will advance even further next year.  Senior Alex Hendry believes the team should “diversify [its] attacking power,” since a majority of the goals were scored by Meghan Wachira.  Morgan Hendry, among other players, will be expected to share the goal scoring load.

As for strategy, Mackenzie believes the team can improve both its offensive and defensive tactics, especially on corner kicks.  However, Mackenzie recognizes that “scoring has been our biggest strength” and that the team has come far since the beginning of the season, despite the addition of seven new starters.