Already a team captain as a junior, Lila Ewell got the Rising Tide girls soccer team off and running Monday with a 3-0 victory over Pioneer Valley Regional in the opening round of the Division 5 state tournament.
Rising Tide ripped through the second half of the regular season on a 5-1-3 heater and showed no signs of slowing down on Monday. Ewell scored all three goals for the Herons, two in the first half to give her team some breathing room and then another after the break as the Herons improve to 12-4-3. The goals were the 49th, 50th, and 51st of her incredible season.
“We value possession of the ball, and when we get it to Lila, we know she is going to be double or even triple teamed, but she works around it every time to make the right play,” said Rising Tide head coach D.J. Kelleher. “The biggest thing today was we stuck to our game plan and played our type of a soccer game. It was fairly even early in the game until Lila popped one into the goal to get us rolling.”
Rising Tide is likely finished with home games for the season. Forges Field proved to be a true home-field advantage this year with the Herons impressive 9-0-2 mark at home. They’ll hit the road Wednesday at 11 a.m. for a Veterans Day faceoff at No. 10 Hopedale in a round-of-16 contest.
Just as important as her role as an offensive juggernaut, Ewell’s role as a leader helps set the tone for the team, on and off the field, with fellow captains Bri Pettine and Teagan Kelly.
Being a captain at a charter school like Rising Tide can be challenging because teammates do not grow up learning to play the game together. Everyone gets acquainted in middle school, or even high school, where the strands of team chemistry begin to strengthen.
An important part of Rising Tide’s defensive midfield group, Kelly has been more of an inspirational leader for the team recently. An ankle injury has her in a walking boot for the time being, but that hasn’t stopped Kelly from being there every day in support of her teammates.
“We are always trying to find ways that we can unite the team. Not only are we coming from different towns, but we also have players on the varsity roster from eighth grade all the way to the senior class,” said Kelly, a senior from Plymouth. “As captains we need to be welcoming to everyone and make sure we all feel like we are a part of what we are doing as a team. That’s how we are going to be successful.”
As talented as she is, Ewell is not going to beat an opponent 1 vs. 11. She needs teammates to attack the net with her or to be available as options when they have a better chance at getting to the goal.
“We are a better team when we are all working together and communicating,” Ewell said. “If I’m getting man-on-man coverage, I need them to talk to me so I can get them the ball or try to drive to the net.”
Along with Ewell’s torrid scoring pace, Rising Tide’s defense is also getting stronger at the right time. Monday’s win was the team’s third shutout in a row and its eighth overall.
“A lot of it is communicating with each other and being aware of your surroundings,” said Kelly about the success on defense.
Ewell credited the team’s two center backs, sophomore Shelby Ruth and eighth-grader Lauren Semcken, for the way they can quickly shut down any situations that happen to arise.
David Wolcott can be reached at dwolcott@plymouthindependent.org.