The Harrison Girl’s Varsity Soccer team had a standout performance this season making it to the sectional finals for the first time in the program history, and receiving many individual awards and accolades. Notably seniors Cara Acocella and Ingrid Murphy were recognized on the All-State third and second teams, respectively. Additionally, senior goalie Alexa Lacatena was named Goalie of the League and Ingrid Murphy was recognized as part of the Elite 12 and Player of the League.
Recently, I had the chance to speak with Murphy and Lacatena about their recent accomplishments, plans for the future, and overall experiences playing soccer for Harrison.
Ella Zamek: How long have you been playing soccer?
Ingrid Murphy: I don’t know, probably since I was like 3 or 4. My whole life. My dad’s always loved soccer so he introduced me when I was really young and then I played travel all throughout elementary school and then middle school I switched to a couple club teams and stuff and now I’m playing for a club team in Connecticut so that’s fun. I get to see a bunch of new people and compete at a high level so that’s good.
Yeah my dad played soccer, he definitely played soccer and he still plays in the Harrison Men’s League. But we’re also big fans so we play and watch which is good. My favorite team is Arsenal, they’re a Premier League team in England. I like both the men’s and women’s, they’re both very good actually. Yeah the women’s team just won the Champions League which is really cool.
Alexa Lacatena: I’ve played soccer since I was four but I’m a goalie and I’ve been playing the position of goalie since I was eight. I lived in Brooklyn so I played barely any soccer, not on a team but then when I moved here I joined Harrison Soccer Club and started playing more.
How I started playing goalie is a funny story actually. It was the indoor season of my first time playing on an actual club team, and my coach kept telling me to “cross the ball, cross the ball” and I had no idea what that meant. So I started crying, I quit for a day, and then he was like maybe you should try a new position. So I tried goalie and I’ve been doing that ever since.
Zamek: Can you explain a little bit about the awards that you received at the end of this season such as the All-League, All-Section, and All-State recognitions?
Murphy: So basically All-League is chosen between the pool of all of the players in our league which is like Rye, Eastchester, Pelham, Ursulin, Harrison, and Byram Hills. A bunch of girls get All-League and then the next step up from that is All-Section which is everybody in the Lower Hudson Section which is Section 1. And then after that there is also All-State which just came out.
Zamek: How do you intend to keep soccer in your life after high school?
Murphy: I’ve always wanted to play soccer in college just because it’s such an important part of my life. Everything I do is structured by soccer like my practices, my games, and then I figure out my life after that. I think that structure is really important to me and I also love playing the game so I think that’s one of the main reasons I wanted to play in college. Also playing at a competitive club level has allowed me to attend different showcases in different states and a lot of college coaches come to those and that gets a lot of players on a bigger platform and you get a lot more visibility playing for club levels than you do for high school or travel teams. Seeing other girls older than me committing to college and seeing them go through that process made me want to do that as well.
It’s kind of weird because I’ve been playing on the varsity team for four years but it doesn’t feel like that. Sometimes I still feel like the freshman on the team when I’m really not. My freshman year there were a lot of really good role models and they not only helped me on the field to become a better player but off the field their kindness and their leadership and their teamwork was really important. I hope I take that and show the younger girls part of that as well.
Lacatena: I’m not playing for my college soccer team like a D1 or D3 team or whatever but maybe I’ll play club or intramural. Senior year, this year, I’m not playing for any club team but I wouldn’t mind playing in the field with my friends and stuff but I’m not sure if I want to take soccer as seriously as I have in the past.
Zamek: What is your favorite memory from this soccer season?
Murphy: I think it has to be this year when we played Mahopac. It was during the school day and it was pouring rain and it was such an unexpected game. I think that added to a little bit of nervousness but also it made it really fun to play. I mean, playing in the rain isn’t easy. The ball’s like skidding everywhere and obviously everybody was freezing and cold by the end of it but just looking in the stands and seeing a lot of the students there was really nice. And then obviously getting the win at the end was really great. Also I think it was an important game because that was the first time Harrison has ever had a semi-final at home and obviously we made it into the final and that’s the farthest we’ve ever gone with the varsity team and I think that’s really impressive and speaks to how well our team bonded this year.
I think also the closeness of the student body is really evident like of course people have their friend groups and people have their closer friends but I think that as a grade we’re actually pretty close. I think that obviously contributes to people going to games and events. And then also I think the skill level makes it interesting. When we go further then people obviously hear that we’re going to the semi-finals, quarter-finals, whatever it is and they want us to do well.
I think high school sports is always a male dominated field because there’s football and in America football is always a big thing so I think that having good female sports like soccer, and I know volleyball did pretty well this year, and having that variability shows that girls can play sports too, it shouldn’t be defined by gender. You shouldn’t have to play a sport because you’re a boy or not play a sport because you’re a girl. I feel like it’s more normal for girls to play sports now which I think is a good thing.
Lacatena: This isn’t shocking but Lake George. We went for our Lake George trip in the beginning of this season and that was like a start to everyone’s friendships bonding. I was able to get really close with a couple people during the trip and that definitely means a lot to me. But also the Section Semi-Final when it was an 11 AM game in the pouring rain and everyone came to watch and when we won in overtime it was very heartwarming.
I’ve been on varsity since my sophomore year and I think in past years the seniors have tried to be super inclusive. But I think this year as the senior it’s more of a responsibility and I feel like we did it very well. I feel like we got the freshman and sophomores to feel more comfortable on the team. We would hang out and drive everybody around, as other seniors in the past would as well, but I just feel like this year the team was so close because we went so far to the finals. Also in the beginning of the season we did like team bonding after team bonding exercise so we were always together for a few weeks straight.
Zamek: What is your go-to meal after a soccer game?
Murphy: Actually this year I always had a smoothie before games. I don’t know why. I think I had it before one of the games and I played well so I just kept it throughout the season. I don’t really have that many superstitions I would say. I try to warm up the same way every time and just try to be focused but every game ends up being different so it’s just important to adapt to what’s right in front of you instead of blaming it on yourself for not preparing well or doing something properly. I mean, preparation is always an important thing but also adapting to what’s happening on the field is important.
Lacatena: It really just depends on my mood but during high school season for the past few years for some reason we would always end up in Rye Ridge and I would always be getting Cava. I love Cava and I didn’t really like it or know about it until last year but now I love it.
Zamek: How does playing soccer impact other areas of your life such as school or your social life?
Murphy: I think it actually really helps with schoolwork because it makes me be more punctual and scheduled with things. As I said before, practices and games determine how my week looks and then I need to fit homework and schoolwork in between that. So it gives me deadlines that I have to meet so I don’t really procrastinate that much which I think is a good thing. I don’t think it negatively affects my social life at all because I meet so many new people through soccer like there’s girls that I know on my team that I don’t think I would have talked to otherwise which is a great thing. Also on my club team there’s girls from all over the place, I play with a girl from Rye and then a bunch of players from Connecticut as well. I think I get introduced to a lot of people that I wouldn’t know without soccer.
Lacatena: High school soccer is definitely a big commitment because it’s almost every day except one day of the week. It takes up most of my time and it’s right after school and so that was definitely a big commitment and that would impact my energy. I was always dead after practice or games and I wouldn’t want to do anything, and soccer became more of an excuse not to do anything. But for friendships and stuff I definitely made some of my best friends from when I started Harrison Soccer Club in third grade. Still to this day I talk to them every single day. Soccer definitely and sports in general are very good to create friendships and lasting bonds.
Zamek: What is the most inspirational thing a coach has ever said to you and how did it impact you?
Murphy: I don’t know actually. I’ve had a lot of really good coaches, I don’t know if it’s anything specific that they’ve said but I think it’s the way that they’ve coached me that has increased my confidence and technical ability. I think this has helped me to be a better all-around player. It’s not one specific thing a coach has said but more so the way that they have coached me that has been really beneficial.
One of my coaches at Harrison when I was younger introduced me to a lot of soccer ideas that were more advanced than probably most kids that age would have experimented with. He normally coached older girls but he came down and coached us as younger players. I think learning about those techniques as a younger player really helped because I was able to spend more time practicing and working on it. And then also I hear coaches yelling on the sidelines telling people to do this and that, but a lot of coaches that I’ve had are more quiet on the sidelines which lets the player take authority and action themselves instead of being told what to do and I think that’s beneficial for becoming your own leader.
Lacatena: Being the team that gets scored on first in a game is very hard to come back from. A lot of the time when it’s a really hard game and then we get scored on first, it’s like “damn why did we just get scored on, we should be scoring first.” Especially when you’re dominating the game it can be really frustrating. If it’s like a 2-0 game, either way whether you’re losing or winning, that’s something that my club coach would always say like 2-0 is nothing. If you score, or they score, you’re only one goal away from a tie. That would constantly be brought up by my coach and it definitely sticks in my head because if we’re losing 2-0, we’re still in the game we can still get it. Or if we’re winning 2-0, like we have to score another one to stay ahead and keep the game.
So much of being a goalie is a mental game, it’s so hard. I’ve always been physically injured multiple times and that takes a toll on your body and your brain. I got the injuries from being a goalie of course because like it’s not even a super technical position compared to other players, it’s more about the fact that you’re just throwing your body around. The part that I always remind myself of is that if I get scored on, the ball has gotten through the forwards, it’s gotten through the midfield, it’s gotten through the defenders, and then I slipped up. It’s not only me, it’s the entire team’s fault. A few years ago I was so short on confidence a lot of the time, and even freshman year in high school I was insecure. It does take a toll on you of course because you want to be doing as best as you can, but sometimes the best isn’t even enough.
Zamek: What advice would you give to younger athletes?
Murphy: Perseverance is the most important thing. Regardless of how good of a player you are or if you’re in a slump or if you don’t think you’re playing well, as long as you stick with it you’ll get results. If you keep practicing and you keep working hard the results will come. Also you need to be appreciative of what you have and not take everything for granted because your time to play is not something that everybody has and I think it is important that you take advantage of being able to play and also have fun with it. If you’re not having fun with a sport it’s not really worth it to keep going because you’re just making yourself unhappy. So as long as you’re happy and you’re giving all of your effort I think you’ll become the best player that you can be.
Lacatena: If you’re going into the high school program and you’re trying out for varsity as a freshman, if you don’t make varsity as a freshman like literally don’t kill yourself over it. I did not make varsity my freshman year and I was so hard on myself about it because I was training so hard to get there and then I made JV. But JV was a great experience, I had a lot of fun with my friends and it was super laid back and chill and it was great. Then going to varsity sophomore year I had to adjust to the commitment. For other people when they’re coming into high school, freshman and sophomores, don’t be hurt if you aren’t on varsity yet.
Zamek: What are some ways that you have left your mark on the team and/or the high school in general?
Murphy: I hope I was a good captain, I hope I showed good leadership. I think as a program hopefully me as well as all of the girls in my senior class have pushed this program into a newer octave and a newer level. I hope that I have left good lasting effects.
Lacatena: I feel like throughout my years on varsity I’ve been super welcoming to the younger grades and I’ve tried to bond with them as well. I remember in my sophomore year this girl Annabel Zihenni was a freshman and she joined the team. She looked so nervous coming into the first practice because she didn’t know anybody yet but we had all heard about her and how she was such a great soccer player. So I remember I introduced myself to her and tried to make her feel comfortable and that’s how we started being friends. I feel like that is something that I’m good at, being social. I’m able to talk to people and make friends easily. In regards to my other friends like Sam Mainland we were doing goalie training with my friend Kaya who graduated last year and I was like “ok freshman if you need any help I’m here for you” and now we’re on varsity together this year and we’re best friends.
Overall I think this season was really great and I’m really proud of us and I hope that they do well next year!
