Springside Chestnut Hill girls' soccer relies on McNesby-Rorke combo
"Em," Springside Chestnut Hill girls' soccer coach Maria Kosmin said, trying to get the attention of Emily McNesby from the sideline as her team faced off against Episcopal Academy.
"Em," Springside Chestnut Hill girls' soccer coach Maria Kosmin said, trying to get the attention of Emily McNesby from the sideline as her team faced off against Episcopal Academy.
"Grace is in the midfield. Look for her."
McNesby glanced over from her area in the Blue Devils offensive third and nodded her head. Of course, she'd be looking for Grace Rorke. She almost always looks for Rorke, especially on set pieces and other restarts.
"It was clear," Kosmin said of the first time she saw the duo. "[Emily] and Grace, they kind of just took over the team. Their play speaks for itself."
Their play - and the numbers that go along with it.
The juniors have combined for 26 of the team's 32 goals this season, with McNesby netting 19. She has scored multiple times in six contests, including a five-goal game against St. Hubert.
In fact, McNesby has found the back of the net in every game the Blue Devils (7-1-1) have scored.
But it is less about the individual numbers and more about the team's record that has the pair excited for this season.
"It's not that I didn't want a 7-0 start," McNesby said. "It's just when you consider the past years it didn't seem realistic."
Now, the program may just have to change its definition of what "realistic" is.
Together, the Division I recruits - McNesby is headed to Tennessee, while Rorke will take her talents to Dartmouth - have Springside in the thick of things in the Inter-Ac league, something the squad hasn't been able to say in a long time - if ever.
"We've always kind of been the underdog team, the team that hasn't done well," Rorke said. "So to see that, especially at the beginning of the season, is a big change. We are competing with teams that demolished us last year. Hopefully that gets us ready for years to come.
"In past years it would be a lucky thing if we got a three-game winning streak or a two-game winning streak," said the midfielder who has also had to play in the back for long stretches. "It would become one day we would play really well and the next day would come, and it would be a total mess. To have the good start that we had, I think, was really important because that was a huge issue with us in past years."
Part of that "good start" was a 4-3 win over Germantown Academy, a program that defeated the Blue Devils by a combined score of 14-3 in three contests last season.
"It felt so not real," McNesby said of the squad's first ever win over the Patriots.
"But it gave us all the confidence we needed. Once we beat GA we realized we're a new team. We can do this this year."
"On her," the Episcopal bench yelled last Tuesday when McNesby had the ball at midfield and looked to start the attack.
"On her," the call was repeated, this time with more urgency, as the Churchwomen didn't want No. 2 to have too much space with the ball at her feet.
"Help her," was the response from the Blue Devils as McNesby's teammates called for backup to jumpstart the offense.
The forward would only have to wait a moment. Rorke was on her way.
@ka_harman