Summer A Learning Experience For Monomoy Goalkeeper On Cape Cod Women’s Soccer League’s Orleans Surf

FALMOUTH – The goalkeeper position in soccer is already hard — perhaps the toughest on the pitch.

To perform between the posts behind just seven other players augments that difficulty factor even further. That’s exactly what was asked of Abigail Leighton last Thursday as Orleans Surf visited Falmouth in early-season Cape Cod Women’s Soccer League play.

Orleans lost 5-1, but Leighton, a rising senior at Monomoy, recorded at least a dozen saves in the determined effort, the visitors starting the match with just 10 players. For Leighton, the summer league — filled with players older than her (the minimum age is 17) — is about development.

“I'm going to make mistakes out there, but just learning from these girls and playing with older players, it's great,” Leighton said.

Much of the roster for Orleans (0-3-0) has been unavailable for the team’s first few games, in part due to schools still being in session. Then, with zero substitutes available, the issue compounds as players run around for the entirety of matches and get banged up as a result. So head coach Steve Austin stood alone on the sideline as Orleans’ 10 took the field against the full 11 of Falmouth (2-1-0). 

Later on in the match, some players understandably subbed out to take a breather and hydrate, dropping Orleans to as few as eight players (Falmouth would eventually sub out some of their own to equalize the sides). 

Even so, Orleans was resolute, with Leighton acting as the last line of defense. They repelled repeated Falmouth attacks until close to the end of the first half, when Charlotte Davis broke free for a goal. Davis delivered again early in the second half, though Orleans, eight players strong at that point, responded with a goal by Mackenzie Bowers to make the score 2-1.

Falmouth added goals from Mallory Hanson, Davis and Sarah Poulin.

“I think we started pretty strong,” Leighton said. “I think today was a pretty strong game.”

The fellow players on Orleans Surf — plus the members of opposing clubs — may be older than Leighton, but she’s also familiar with many of them. One of Leighton’s teammates is her head coach at Monomoy, Jenn Peterson. The roster overall includes multiple former Monomoy players, some of whom Leighton played with last year.

“Sometimes I look to her, I'm like, ‘Coach, what do I do?’” Leighton said. “But also, I know this is a women's soccer league, and it's something that I've got to start to figure out on my own.”

Peterson was continuously vocal within Orleans’ midfield, constantly directing and redirecting teammates. That’s extremely valuable to see and play behind for Leighton, who spent last year at Monomoy in a rotation during her first year on varsity. She’d take one half while Olivia Eldredge, now graduated, would take the other. 

What emerged from that split was — in analyzing their differences as keepers — Eldredge tended to lead and direct from the goal line while Leighton played aggressively and athletically in order to hunt balls but spoke up less.

“You’ve got to start to be the leader on the field, because that's just something that sometimes I think I struggled with, but I think I'm starting to talk more, and I'm trying,” Leighton said.

Now, both halves will be Leighton’s when she starts the upcoming season for the Sharks. That makes what she learns playing in the Cape Cod Women’s Soccer League all the more productive. There’s a lot more action in these matches than a typical high school game, according to Leighton, but she also feels it’s easier to compete with more experienced players who may have a better sense of what they’re doing on the field.

“It's going to be a lot different,” Leighton said, referring to playing both halves next season for Monomoy. ”I think that also doing this summer league is going to teach me something so I'm ready for next year.”