At a passing glance, the 7-7-2 record compiled by the Lawrence High girls soccer team doesn’t look overly impressive.
But in the big picture, it is a sign of just how far the Cardinals have come since Emily Palombo took over as head coach 10 years ago.
During Palombo’s first three seasons, the downtrodden program went an unsightly 12-38-4. Since then, there have been seven straight seasons of .500 or better, showing the stability she has given to the program.
Lawrence managed to qualify for the Mercer County Tournament as a top-eight team this year despite having three freshmen in the starting lineup. The fact those 9th-graders performed well indicate that the Cards are now replenishing themselves without bottoming out.
“The program’s come a long way,” Palombo said. “I always want to stick with the success we’ve found but every year you have to earn that success. It’s just understanding and making sure the girls that come in understand what we’ve built and how long it’s taken us to build this and buy into it.
“When I first started, we would have never been in the conversation for MCT Top 8. Kelsey Holt was part of my first freshman class and now she’s my assistant. It’s been nice to have an alum come in and understand where it used to be and where we got it to.”
Things could have gone even better with a few breaks, as Lawrence lost four one-goal games.
“The CVC was very good this year,” Palombo said. “You had to show up and play a full 80 minutes. Sometimes we didn’t always do that, and other teams finished off the opportunities they had in those close losses.”
Along with its talented incoming class, the Cardinals returned a nice group of seniors, including record-setting Gwyn Moore. The goalie recorded 310 saves for her career; set the school record as a junior with eight shutouts in one season, and had six more this year.
“Gwyn Moore has been phenomenal for us for four years,” Palombo said. “She’ll be a huge loss.”
The keeper had some veteran help in front of her. Senior outside back Gillean Kibby (1 goal, 4 assists) provided strength and speed and “is just an incredibly gifted athlete,” according to Palombo. In the middle, junior Hayley Jodoin helped anchor the defense for a second straight year along with senior Grace Dowd, who dropped from center midfield.
“She’s a really vocal leader and can read the game very well,” Palombo said. “She did a nice job helping Hayley keep us organized.”
Rounding out the back was junior Jasmine Eccles, who the coach would like to move up to attack. But Palombo likes her speed and tenacity in helping shut down some of the Colonial Valley Conference’s top players while also making some runs.
The midfield was a strength and featured two of the Cardinals bright young talents in sophomore Michaela Little and freshman Caelyn LaFlamme. Little tallied 10 goals and three assists, while LaFlamme had two goals and an assist.
“Michaela stepped up and had a lot more confidence this year,” Palombo said. “She played anywhere we asked her to and did a great job. She just always got herself in key positions to score and have the aggressive drive to put the ball in the back of the net. She’s also really good at tracking the ball on corners and was able to put a few of those corner kicks away as well. You just kept seeing her confidence go up every game so that was nice. You pair her with (junior) Kendall Jodoin (2 goals, 2 assists), who was great with these one-time passes and is also able to see the field.
“And then Caelyn LaFlamme is just a force to be reckoned with. She’s all over the place and covered a ton of ground. She sees the field. She’s only a freshman, but she just gets out there and plays. She’s naturally a forward and we’d love to get her up there but she’ll play wherever we need her to and did a great job.”
Providing leadership in the midfield was senior Jesse Everman, whose modest output of one goal and three assists did not define her as a performer.
“Jesse Everman is all over the place and does a lot of work that won’t make it into the boxscore,” Palombo said. “She’s making key tackles, and she literally never stops moving. She makes that run back to track back to the ball and stop a shot, and sets people up. She does the double assist where she sets up the person that’s gonna set up the goal. She was a key player.”
As were the players up top, who included freshmen Amber Wooding (4 goals, 2 assists) and Becca Boggs (5 goals, 2 assists) along with senior Jasmin Jordan (3 goals).
“Amber is lightning fast and a skilled one-v-one player,” Palombo said. “She connects really well with Boggs, she knows where she’s going to be, and Becca is a very good and talented one-v-one player as well. She is small but she’s lightning.”
Playing on the outside was Jordan, “who did a great job this year of being there when we needed to put a key ball in.” Others who rotated in at that spot were freshman Elena Rivera and senior Ava Andrew.
It turned out to be a nice mix of youth and experience that helped keep the Cardinals competitive once again.
“We lost some key players from last year,” Palombo said. “I think we knew we were gonna be pretty good because we were returning a lot of players with experience, but you never know what you’re gonna get when freshmen are coming up, obviously. But this year we were blessed with some great newcomers who were able to play important roles right away.”
As for positives to come from the season, Palmbo said “I think making the top eight (in MCTs) was a big bright spot for them. It showed a lot of respect the other coaches had for them to put us in there. That was a key moment for us.
“We played great games against Princeton and West Windsor North,” she added. “Even in our ties with Hopewell and Notre Dame, we played really well. You just gotta learn and grow. You gotta put teams away and you have to finish your chances that you get. Hopefully we take that into next year and learn from it.”
The coach was hard pressed to pick a Most Valuable Player on the squad, as seemingly everyone stepped up in a big spot at one time or another.
“It was a total team effort,” she said.
As for next season, there will definitely be holes to fill, as there were this year. But there are also some talented players returning that should only improve from this campaign.
“When people get a year under their belt it’s a different experience for them when they step on the field for next year,” Palombo said. “I’m hoping we can just fill those spots and continue to have success. Every year it’s new and you need to bond a team together. And I think I learned a lot about what I need to do when it’s a (condensed) season like this and you have to play three games in a week and adjust accordingly.
“This was a rough fall with the new schedule. It was a difficult grind in that we didn’t have a ton of numbers, so if you get an injury it’s tough, it’s important to stay healthy and get through the grind. You’re gonna have good days and bad days. I’d love to see us grow and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
In other words, continue to be a consistently competitive team.
LHS girls' soccer team captains Gwyn Moore (left), Grace Dowd, Gillian Kibbey and Jessie Everman.,
