Reaching a state semifinals in high school is a rare enough accomplishment on its own. Since most varsity careers last two, maybe three, seasons, making it a second time is even harder for athletes. Even fewer have the opportunity to lead a long playoff run four years after their first appearance.
Three seniors on the Hampshire girls soccer team are hoping to accomplish just that.
This fall the Raiders are 14-4-1 and ranked No. 4 in the Division 4 MIAA power rankings headed into the Western Mass. tournament. Both are the best for the Raiders since 2022. That year, they reached the state semifinals, losing 3-1 to eventual state champs Cohasset. The team also fell short of its first Western Mass. title since 2005.
“ I just remember it was a lot of fun. Sometimes the pressure can get to you, but I feel like everyone was always just, having fun and smiling,” senior co-captain Shayne Moynahan said.
Moynahan and fellow captains Maggie Lashway, and Addie Miklasiewicz have been varsity players for Hampshire since middle school. Lashway made the team in eighth grade, while Moynahan and Miklasiewicz’s first year on the squad was seventh grade in 2021, stepping up as starters the following season.
They started as energizer players who focused on making the plays that don’t show up in the stat book, such slide tackles on defense or making key passes. The trio now are counted on to be leaders much like the ones that helped their transition into the program.
Seniors Ella Forest and Parker Pallante, as well as junior Maisie Bowler were among the upperclassmen that helped build the confidence of the young trio in 2022.
“ Maisie was so happy for me when I made the team and she was always there for everybody,” Lashway said.
While Forest was the team’s leading goal scorer, she demonstrated to Miklasiewicz how being a midfielder was a two-way job.
“She really taught me about strength and that it takes a lot on the defensive end that can really correlate with the offensive opportunities that we have,” Miklasiewicz said. “But ultimately, they’re the ones that inspired us to be who we are today in terms of players and people.”
Losing in a semifinal game always brings heartbreak. The trio felt the sadness knowing the seniors just finished their careers. At the same time, the loss inspired them to continue the program’s success.
“ It was definitely upsetting, but it was kind of exciting too,” Moynahan said. “It was sad because all the senior girls were leaving, but the three of us were like, ‘Oh, we have all these other years together. We can keep this going.’”
Similar to 2022, Hampshire head coach Steve Croft once again sees strong leadership from his seniors as a key part of the team’s success this season.
“ I can’t put into words what these seniors have meant,” Croft said. “They emulate what it means to be a great student athlete, teammate, leader, captain. They’ve led throughout their entire careers, by example and also action.”
After coming up short in the Western Mass. and state tournaments in 2022, the group believed another shot at a championship would come. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, the road in high school sports is not always the smoothest.
While Hampshire picked up another future captain in Katelyn Krauss as a freshman in 2023, many of the top contributors graduated in 2022 and 2023. Hampshire remained competitive the following seasons, but failed to make it past the Round of 16.
“ I think the positions kind of shifted a lot,” Moynahan said. “I had started at midfield and then I went to striker, and then we took on a lot of new people. So I think just figuring out where everyone had their roles kind of took some getting used to.”
Moynahan’s journey also took an unexpected turn. After scoring 12 goals in 2024 as a sophomore, she tore her ACL and meniscus that spring playing for her club team.
Though she didn’t play during the 10-win season in the fall of 2025, Moynahan attended every game and practice. She found ways to contribute, whether it was keeping stats or acting as a mentor for younger players.
“ It speaks to her tremendous character, because that I know had to be difficult,” Croft said. “I know she wanted to be on the field with us, but did everything she could. And how she’s come back this year is absolutely amazing. That resilience and mental toughness that it takes, I can’t speak enough about that.”
While Libby Puttick became the focal point of the offense that season as a senior, as she scored 21 goals, the rest of the Raiders stepped up to fill the hole left by Moynahan. Miklasiewicz and Lashway recorded career-highs in goals with eight and six respectively, discovering their roles as playmakers. Once again, the team fell in the Round of 16.
Lashway pointed out that their junior year was the first time the had underclassmen starting to look up to them. Miklasiewicz said they began to “ understand that you not only have people to look up to as a junior, but people are also looking up to you.”
“ That was really empowering and made me rethink a lot, not necessarily about talent, but about leadership and the role that it takes as a player,” Miklasiewicz said.
After missing last season, Moynahan entered this fall looking to make up for lost time. She leads the team with 12 goals. Miklasiewicz is right behind her with 10. They wanted to prove this season was not going to end the same way as 2024.
In the past the squad relied on getting the ball to their striker to make plays, this season Hampshire has utilized its midfielders, like Lashway and Miklasiewicz, to initiate passing plays in the offensive zone.
The four senior captains lead a fairly young squad that includes two eighth graders and six freshmen, several of whom are key contributors. Freshman Claire Pickard is third on the team in goals while classmate Morgan Lawler leads the squad in assists.
Once young players themselves, the seniors understand their roles of integrating the next generation of players.
“ It can be hard sometimes, being so young. Like what does a seventh-grader and a 12th-grader have in common?” Moynahan said. “ But when I think of the middle schoolers on our team, I don’t think of them like, ‘Oh, that’s an eighth-grader.’ I’m like, “Oh that’s, my friend Audrina (Whittaker)’ or ‘That’s my friend Brooke (Labrie).’”
Their varsity careers have gone faster than they could have imagined. Miklasiewicz called it crazy to “think that the firsts and lasts are here.”
The Cohasset loss remains a motivator for the Raiders. As the team racked up wins, excitement grew as they realized this season was going to be different compared to the last three.
”I think we have the ability to (reach the semifinals),” Miklasiewicz said. “I think it’s such a realistic goal for us to get there, just because of our success this season and how we have been contributing to our wins, mentally and physically. So I think that hopefully we can continue to grow and make it the farthest that we’ve ever made it.”
