There was a point in the early stages of Ryan Puntiri’s coaching career at Hingham where a trip to the tournament was a step in the right direction for a rebuilding girls soccer program.
Now, after three trips to the MIAA tournament in four years,going beyond just getting in is the new goal.
Puntiri will have youthful exuberance and the ability to lean on some core veterans to hopefully build off a season where the Harborwomen went 8-9-4, losing in the first round of the Div. 1 South tournament to Wellesley.
“We were young last year, so we are returning nine out of 10 starters this year” said Puntiri. “The leadership has been great this year. The core of the players who have been in the program the past couple of years is really coming to the forefront this year.”
The top of the Patriot League Keenan Division is always a tough road to travel for the Harborwomen, with Duxbury, Whitman-Hanson and Silver Lake all coming in as perennial forces to try and move through.
That means that the leadership of Puntiri’s captains will be much needed all over the field. Julia Leahy comes off a successful junior season that saw her make the second-team Eastern Mass. All-Star and the Patriot League All-Star nod.
She has lead the team in scoring the past three seasons and Puntiri knows the importance of her as a dual-threat for the Harborwomen.
“I’m looking for her to distribute the ball if people are keying on her or to put the ball back in the net,” said Puntiri. “We kind of go the way she goes.”
Leahy will be joined by Abbie Barrett and Emma Marjollet as captains. Barrett will work the middle of the field and was called “relentless” by her head coach. While Marjollet keeps things nice and quiet in the Harborwomen defensive zone.
Puntiri will have a plethora of freshman to fill in for depth and one fresh face that will make an immediate impact will be Carly Baggott.
Baggott came into camp and made an immediate impression on her head coach.
“I had heard about her a little bit before, but she’s a strong player,” said Puntiri. “She doesn’t play like a freshman and she doesn’t look like a freshman against older players on the field. She’s got confidence like a junior and she knows the game as good as anybody.”
The mix of young and old is there. Now all that's left is to mesh that together and make that next step as a program.
The girls varsity soccer team will play their first game of the season this afternoon at Whitman Hanson Regional High School at 3:30 p.m.
