Q&A: Boston Latin School Girls Soccer Captains

The Boston Latin School girls soccer team is off to a rocky start with an 0-3 record (as of Tuesday morning).

First-year head coach Jon Rudzinksi said the team is made up mostly of West Roxbury, Roslindale and Jamaica Plain residents. 

Before the season began, captains Mary DeMoura of West Roxbury, and Teresa Frappaolo of Jamaica Plain, answered some questions about the upcoming season, who's scoring, who's defending, and other questions about the pitch.

Patch: What does it mean to you be named captains of the BLS girls soccer team? How were you selected?  

DeMoura: It means more than I can say to be named captain. I have been playing with these girls for my whole high school career and it is really great knowing that they had confidence in Teresa and I to lead them. We were voted in.

Frappaolo: I am so honored to be a captain for this team. I've been on it since the eighth grade and they all mean so much to me, so being voted by them was really special for me.

Patch: You're in a tough league, what are your expectations for the season?

DeMoura: My expectations for the season are to grow as a team. The league has always been so tough, but being the underdog for the past few seasons has made us a much stronger team. Obviously winning would be great, but it is also good when we can learn new things from our teammates. 

Frappaolo: This league has always been a tough one and in the past our records haven't necessarily been too good, but this season I know we are all so excited and ready to go. We have a solid group of girls on both jayvee and varsity, both with so much potential to change that not so good record streak around this season. It's definitely a season to look forward to, and a team to keep an eye on to see what we can do.

Patch: Who are the impact players on your team?

DeMoura: We have so much great talent on the team from all over Boston. We have 14 returning seniors who are able to play this year and it is hard to name all of the impact players but just to name a few, we have Teresa (captain), Tori, Keturah [Gordon], Diana [Howat], Rachel [Kelly], Sophie [Hyman], Bria, Zoe [Crawford], Emma, Nani, Hilary. Basically everyone on the team is an impact player when they step up and do what they can to help the team, whether it be on the field or the bench.

Frappaolo: Honestly, at this point, I'm excited to have all the girls on the team and field. They each have their own way of playing and getting the job done so they can each make any impact in their own way. Some girls who typically are our play makers or are destined to be this season are Keturah Gordon(12), Sophie Hyman ('12), Rachel Kelly ('12), and Hannah Givertz ('11), who will most likely be playing in the middle or wings to help set up our expectant forwards; Tori Clancy ('12), Vickie Harik ('10), and Nani Argryos ('11), to score some goals. And we have a returning strong wing defender in the back Diana Howat ('12), who may be seen playing forward a bit, too. And Zoe Crawford ('12), who use to play wing, but I think will be mainly in the back this season, with her strong kick and ability, from playing wing, to see runs when they need to be made.

Patch: Who will you look to for scoring? 

DeMoura: Anyone and everyone on the field that will put it in the back of the net.

Frappaolo: Like I said before our main forwards as of now are Tori Clancy, Vickie Harik, and Nani Argyros. However obviously we are looking for anyone to score! Our part-time goalie Hilary Rockett ('10) will also play forward part-time, and our mids like Keturah Gordon, Sophie Hyman, and Hannah Givertz all can, and all have scored for us before. We have even had defenders score, like last season when Rachel Kelly came up for a corner from center back. It's a very driven team so you can never anticipate who will be making out next goal.

Patch: BLS is in a tough conference - do you think it's tougher that you and your teammates met in middle school or high school - compared to other teams who may have been playing since they were in elementary school?
 

DeMoura: It has always been very tough to compete against girls who have been playing together for the majority of their soccer careers. Coming from all different parts of Boston didn't give all of us a chance to learn each other's tendencies and where we like to play balls or how we shoot, which is tough, but we all have worked really hard to pick up on these things quick. 

Frappaolo: Actually this year many of the girls have all played together before. The majority of the team this season is seniors, about 14, so we have been together for five years, including this one, and quite a few of us played together since we were around seven for a JP travel team. For that group of girls, myself included, it has been such a great experience to be able to continue playing together for these 10 or 11 years now and it has helped with out connecting on the field. There area also a few girls who played in the past together for Parkway.

Patch: The majority of BLS' team is from the Parkway area of West Roxbury, Roslindale and Jamaica Plain - do you hang out with each other outside of school? Or get together when not in season? Or do you play together in the offseason, too? 

DeMoura: We are definitely a close team when it comes to being friends outside of soccer. We hang out during and after the season. Spending so much time together on the field definitely helps us form our friendships off the field. Lots of the girls play on the same teams as one another also. 

Frappaolo: We really lucked out for our team having such good chemistry, most of the time. Many of us do see each other out of school and outside of season. Sometimes for a team event and sometimes just because people are friends.We also do have a futsal (soccer played on a basketball court with a heavier smaller ball) team in the winter which gives us more opportunity to play, to play together, and to see each other more. There also some girls who play other sports together at the school including basketball, softball, and crew. I love this team so much!