MATTAPOISETT — Approaching the 2025 season with a young team on the rise, the Old Rochester varsity girls soccer team is “challenging each other to keep raising the level every time we get on the field,” according to Coach Jeff Lombard.

“I’ve been really impressed with what we’ve seen so far,” he said. “They’ve really worked hard. We’re seeing everybody fighting for every minute they can find.”

“This is definitely more of a new team because we did lose eight of our seniors last year,” said team captain and senior Amanda Ignacio of Mattapoisett. “So this is a lot of sophomores, juniors and a few freshmen.”

“It was a tough group to lose, because you get so connected to them and they’re such a huge part of the four years,” said Lombard of the graduated seniors.

He stated that much of pre-season training was figuring out “who’s going to be the next in line” and how players would “fit into” the new roster.

“We’re excited to jump into this season, hopefully make it to the playoffs again [and maybe make it further this time,” said team captain and senior Kate Thomsen of Mattapoisett.

Emerson Roy, a senior and team captain from Fairhaven, stated that while the team works toward their goals, she also wants to create a fun environment.

“We want to win, but we also want to have fun,” she said.

Junior Elise Modarcek of Rochester stated that she’s “honored” to serve as the only captain who is not a senior.

“I get to be captains with awesome girls. I’ve played with these girls for a while, and I’m just honored that I can be trusted as a junior [and] I feel ready to do the best I can,” she said.

The four captains all emphasized that they want to create a welcoming team environment that feels like “one big family,” and intend to pursue their goal to make it to the state playoffs and push further than they did last season.

Entering the 2024 MIAA state tournament, the varsity team had a regular season record of 13-5 and lost in the second round of playoffs.

This year, the team is looking to keep "changing as the year goes on” and “identifying stronger or weaker areas” that need improvement.

On Thursday, Aug. 28, Old Rochester got to face off against Dartmouth High School’s varsity girls soccer team in a scrimmage. The two teams ended up tying with a final score of 2-2.

Lombard stated that the match allowed the girls to continue to find their footing in a new team.

“Today was perfect for that because Dartmouth is always very skillful and fast and aggressive, and that’s the kind of stuff that we want to be going up against and be able to handle,” he said.

Ultimately, Lombard just wants to see his team incrementally improve with each week of training.

“Most importantly, I want to see us better almost weekly,” he said, adding that it’s a “very realistic goal. “... That’s a challenge, but I think they can do it.”