Meadow Boateng has added a bit more to her game each year for the High School South girls soccer team.
This year, that has translated into more goals for the senior defender on top of her usually stout defense and vocal leadership.
Boateng already had tripled her scoring through the Pirates’ first 10 games with three goals after having one through the first three years of her career.
But Boateng has had big goals every year for herself, just not the kind that go in the goal.
“A big part of my growth is definitely just goal setting,” said Boateng.
She started at outside back as a freshman, and then since sophomore year has been the full-time starter at center back for South. Each year, she’s had a new focus in the offseason. Freshman year, it was working on her left foot and getting more technically proficient, but also knowing where the right pass was and sorting out better movement. After a year on varsity, she turned her attention to getting physically stronger sophomore year on top of continuing to work on her technique. Junior year, she focused on positioning herself so she was always in the right spot to make a play. And this year, she wanted to be more aggressive and work at when she could take smart risks and make offensive runs.
“I feel like all these goals really helped me to get where I am because it’s like I have something I can focus on,” Boateng said. “That’s really what helped me. That’s just how I am where I am today. There’s no stopping, it’s just I have to work from here. I really hope to have the opportunity to play in college.”
Boateng was one of five Pirates players with at least three goals during their 8-5 start that included a perfect 6-0 mark to win the Colonial Valley Conference Valley Division for the second straight season. Her goal scoring is a plus, her main thing remains defending and anchoring the South defense while fellow senior Maya Montemayor and sophomore Riley Duguay lead the team in scoring.
“She has just been that rock of that defense,” said Pirates coach Elisa Mastroianni. “I’m just picturing the different plays that she’s making over and over again and she hasn’t really scored goals before, but this season she has been able to make runs into our attacking third and she scored three goals this season. So she’s super helpful in that kind of way with her aggression. We put her up on corner kicks and she’s able to attack little ricochets and get them in the net. Her being able to maneuver and dictate where the defense goes with all these moving parts has been super helpful, especially during game days when the coaches can’t point exactly where they need to go all the time.”
Her experience has been a big plus. She is a solid example of goal setting and where it can get a player. She’s evolved each season, always having big bright moments and now she’s more consistent with everything.
“This year, it really seems like it’s all come together,” Mastroianni said. “She seems when she’s defending, she’s super calm. She rarely makes any kind of rash mistakes, like crazy slide tackles or really aggressive tackles and things like that. She’s super precise with winning the ball back. And then when she does steal the ball, her dribbling and her passing to help us transition has been just so awesome. So from freshman to senior year has completely improved so much.”
Boateng, who also played high end club soccer until the summer before her junior year, is one of six seniors for the Pirates, four of whom start. They came back for their final year with high expectations after last year’s 9-6-2 season in which they were a perfect 6-0 in the CVC Valley Division to win that title. They split their first eight games of 2025 before reeling off three straight wins that led into finishing with four wins in their final five regular-season games.
“Our energy, having that like yearn to win, and definitely our energy being up has played a huge role in us having a lot of these successes and also just encouraging other people,” Boateng said. “Like for me as a captain, I try to encourage everybody and just keep pushing everybody to their fullest. And once the energy is up, that’s how we get a lot of these good results.”
It’s been up to Boateng and her fellow seniors to lead the team after losing a solid group of leaders to graduation. The chemistry has come together heading into the final month of the season with players this year finding their roles.
“Even though we didn’t really lose a ton of goal scorers, our play was somehow impacted,” Mastroianni said. “So just kind of focusing on that, it took a little bit to get there, but I think we’re in a good place now of just the girls really working together, trusting each other, and creating a good, fun environment at practice that I think has now officially translated onto the field, which has been really awesome to see.”
Boateng has been looking forward to her senior season. Being a captain has enabled her to share her passion for the game with her younger teammates. Boateng has held herself and her teammates to a high standard.
“It’s been really great,” she said. “I’m just so grateful that I can really fill in that leadership role and prove myself and guide a team that continues to do well and just be there for everyone. I just want to be a good teammate and I’ve grown so much as a person and I feel like just having that leadership role finally, with being a captain, it just means so much to me and I just love guiding my team and helping everybody and just keeping everyone together and just pushing everybody as much as I want to push for the game.”
Boateng has always been a vocal presence in the back, and she’s primarily been a defender aside from playing striker in fifth grade. Her vocal leadership is no different. But now as a captain, her voice is even stronger.
“I’m a natural leader,” said Boateng, who is vice president of South’s Black Student Union. “And I’ve always been vocal, and I’ve always guided my teammates, and I’ve always helped my teammates. But now that I actually am a captain, I feel like I have more authority to really help people and push everyone with good intent.”
Playing significantly early in her high school built her confidence. She filled a role in the back and established herself as a reliable defender. Her first two seasons laid the foundation for her growth into a team leader and captain.
“It felt good to be that force and be that wall and be that for my team, whether we win or whether we lose,” Boateng said. “My performance, my confidence, that’s really what got me to that point.”
Boateng’s goal setting hasn’t just been limited to the soccer pitch. She also employs that mindset in other facets of her life, like prioritizing each academic assignment or how she’ll approach a subject over a timeline.
“It’s definitely something I apply outside of soccer to,” she said. “And I’ve said it’s helped me just immensely. It just helps me to improve so much and just stay on track.”
Boateng is considering studying engineering in college, but she’s not limiting herself. Just as she has broadened her game over the years, she is open to taking on new challenges in the classroom.
“I have so much I want to experience and learn about, which is why soccer can’t be the only thing that I do because injuries can end careers or seasons,” she said. “And that’s one thing I just keep at the back of my head all the time. I’m just really excited for exploring engineering and exploring more, just exploring different courses and classes and things like that.”
Meadow Boateng has always been a big goal setter. It’s helped drive her to become a top-flight defender who factors heavily into the Pirates’ chances to make some waves in the postseason CVC and state tournaments. South was the No. 8 seed for the CVC tournament.
“We are just trying to make the girls as prepared for all different situations as possible,” Mastroianni said. “I think they’re learning now that we’re coming to this second-half of the season, like being able to beat Hopewell and beating Robbinsville I think is really giving them the confidence because me and my assistant coach, we tell them that they can do anything they set their mind to.”
