The Craziest 3 Days of Soccer Ever by Emiko P. '25
broken records, halloween practice, and senior day!
Hey, everyone! It’s time for everyone’s favorite update… soccer season!!
We just wrapped up our regular season, and I wanted to share the last three days that led up to that, because a lot went down.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, we had our second to last game of the regular season against Wellesley. We had set a goal this year to not only win the regular season conference title, but to beat every single team in our conference that faced us. And after we beat Wellesley 4-1 that night, we were one step closer to that goal.
But that was not the most eventful thing of the night.
Our teammate Meagan R. ‘24 shattered a 20-year-old record by scoring her 53rd career goal that night against Wellesley – making her the MIT Women’s Soccer all-time leading scorer!! I think this quote by my dad sums up Meagan pretty well: “Dang, that Meagan is a problem.”
Indeed, she is. I have never seen any other player be so viciously shifty and unstoppable. Watching her sprint down the left side of the field, her defender huffing behind her (literally eating Meagan’s dust), and rip a shot into the upper corner of the net will never get old. She is our beloved leader, and we are so happy she decided to grace us with her silly and energetic presence for one more semester :)
Thursday
Thursday was Halloween, which means it was time for one of the most iconic MIT Women’s Soccer traditions: Halloween practice. Every year, the seniors pick a theme and assign everyone a costume that they must wear out to practice. This year’s theme was sports, and the team did not disappoint. It sure was a spooky sight as equestrians and horses, synchronized swimmers, sumo wrestlers, canoers, 5’3’’ football players, and gladiators paraded around the fields that night.
Another monumental event that happened that night was that we had our last lift in our temporary Varsity Weight Room. There is a special weight room reserved for athletes, and for the past few months it’s been getting renovated. The grand opening just happened, so this was our last time lifting in the temporary weight room. At least we did it in style!
Saturday
After 18 games played in two months, Saturday was our very last game of the regular season. And not only that – it was SENIOR DAY!!! As someone who has been on the soccer team since freshman year, Senior Day has always been bittersweet. It meant saying goodbye to the people I had looked up to and having to think for the first time about what the team would be like without them. I had never really considered how it would be from the other perspective, to look at the team and try to memorize every last detail – the memes in my locker from my psych buddy, the team huddled around our Hood Beav mascot, the casual jokes, the sharing (sometimes stealing) of candy from people’s lockers. Senior Day is when you take a second to appreciate the people, the sisters, the teammates. I am so grateful to have a team that brightens up my day, that supports me and loves me, and that just really wants the best for me.
Senior Day was amazing! We played Emerson, and we won 3-0! I might have scored the game winning goal ;) That was definitely a good Senior Day gift. After the game, we exchanged presents, the juniors gave some speeches, and we gorged ourselves on cake and Chipotle with our families and friends and teammates.
Also, in classic MIT Women’s Soccer fashion (in line with what seems to be the theme this week), we broke another record. With our final win against Emerson, we are the first team to ever go 11-0 in our conference in the regular season. History = made.
And with that, our regular season comes to a close, and we end it with 17 wins, 1 loss, and 1 tie. We also end it ranked #3 in the nation (which is also a program record!). Our season is far from over, though. We have the NEWMAC tournament next, where all the teams in our conference reconvene and fight over the tournament trophy. After that, we hopefully make our run in the NCAA tournament, where all D3 schools in the nation set their eyes on the prize of becoming a National Champion. This year, we definitely have our eyes on that prize.
The past few days of crazy team traditions and the culmination of an entire season of hard work is the reason why I love soccer and our team so much. I can’t wait to see what the post-season has in store for us.
Roll tech!