Patriots Girls' Soccer Team Winds Down Preseason

Nancy Slocum, Concord-Carlisle High School's girls' soccer coach, held one of the teams' final preseason practices Tuesday afternoon on Doug White Memorial Field.

"We have pretty high standards coming (into the season)," said Slocum, who said her practices have been competitive. "We expect to train hard over the summer and we do a lot of fitness testing at the very beginning to make sure that they've done their homework."

The team was 10-7-3 last season. It lost two games into the MIAA Division 1 North tournament against Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, which lost in the state finals.

"We lost to A-B 4-1. It was one of only, I think, two goals scored on them all season, so we did well," Slocum said. "We were one game away from winning the Dual County League small championship. Wayland took that. So we're looking to improve upon that and we're looking to go as far as possible in the state tournament and get to the final."

Slocum said that the team has many great returning players that will contribute to their success.

"Our returning captain, Posie Holmes, she was one of our top scorers last year, she's a striker. Jamie Potter who's one of our defenders. They are both four-year varsity members," Slocum said. "Courtney McCauley is another senior returning starter. Lindsay Cook is another senior returning starter, she's an outside midfielder. Our leading scorer last year was Andrea O' Brien, she's coming back as a sophomore."

Slocum said that the Dual County League is "pretty tough."

"Acton-Boxborough won the big division, they were ranked number one at state, they won the state tournament in '08 and they were runners-up in '07 and '09. So they're pretty good," she said.

Westford Academy and Wayland are great competitors as well, Slocum said.

"Not a lot of easy games in the Dual County League," said Slocum.

But Slocum is keeping her girls in check.

 "We're always trying to do everything a little bit sharper, a little bit tougher, a little bit faster, and I'm excited. I think it's a great group."

Slocum and the team are excited for their opening game against Waltham High School at home on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m.

"(Waltham) is absolutely a tough competitor," Slocum said.