The Norwood girls soccer team did not advance into the State Tournament last fall, but then first year coach Brandon Denneen felt that the team did make some strides to becoming a competitive team.

"The girls played much better than they have in the past, but there is still a long way to go," Deeneen said. "We were improving, and by the time that the second half of the season rolled around they were believing in themselves and playing better soccer."

Although the Mustangs started to understand what they were up against come the second half of the season, they know that they still have a way to go. If Norwood can figure out their second half play from a year ago and use it to start the new season, they should be on the right path. Those returning players understand the concept and need to come out playing right away. Denneen is still looking to change the culture and mentality of this team from its past existence and firmly believes that they can move this into the future.

Senior captains Sydney Cochrane and Megan Molloy will be looked upon heavily to keep the team in beat with the new ways the team is going about business. With Molloy sidelined for the beginning of the season, however, it will be up to Cochrane to steer the ship on the field. The senior is a strong backfield player for Norwood and as a three-year veteran of varsity play, she will be strongly counted on by the coaching staff.

Molloy, who hurt herself last year during basketball season is still rehabbing her knee and if she continues at her healing pace, she's most likely to return ahead of schedule - which means the senior forward could retake the field in mid-October.

"She's [Molloy] a great leader and without her it's a big loss to the team," the Coach said. "She is probably one of our best forwards and not having her for half the season is going be tough. The younger girls are going to get the opportunity in her absence and will need to step up their game if we are to be successful. We will soon find out if they can shine as expected."

Senior Lilly Cordani will patrol the midfield for Norwood this season and as one who continually battles hard when she is on the field, Denneen is thinking about moving her into an attacking midfielder this fall.

"She has defiantly shown improvement this pre-season," Denneen said. "She is one that will help us in the midfield, but I am looking to possibly move her up to help kick start the offense with more consistency. Defensively she is strong, but we have people that we can move around to be able to use her more offensively."

Denneen is also hoping junior forward Gianna Riccardi, can step up into Molloy's vacant spot until the senior is able to return to the field. Riccardi is a fast and aggressive individual who was slated as the team's number two forward last fall and Ferguson is looking for her to pick up her game as believes she is fully capable of taking on the challenge to help the team succeed.

Senior keeper Raegan Curran's game has improved and she will be looked upon to pick the team up in the big games and keep them relative. She is one that brings a positive energy to the field and her teammates. Norwood will also dress a freshman to back up Curran in the form of Layla David. The first-year high school player will primarily be the starter but she will occasionally see action on the varsity level.

"Layla will practice with Raegan on a regular basis and we will get her into a couple of games to get her acclimated to the varsity game which is faster and has much stronger players," the Coach said. "We need to get her into those games so that she can get the experience she needs as well as let her become confident in her game on this level."

Senior Becca Wood, another basketball player that found her way onto the injury list and missed her entire soccer season, will be back and ready to pick up where she left off. Denneen is hoping that Wood is back to her old self and able to help this team succeed this fall.

Playing in a tough and always strong Tri-Valley League, Denneen knows that Norwood is going to find themselves on the wrong end of games more than not, but he is optimistic that the team will continue to make improvements and move their way up the ladder.

"If we continue to work hard, we will be able to grab a few more wins and possibly steal one or two here and there," Denneen said. "We are pushing in the right direction and the girls all believe in one another. They are a family and when they step onto the field they support and lift one another up."

Prior to the season getting underway, Denneen sat down with his team and told them that anything is possible, but he is not aiming for the tournament, just yet. The big take away from this season is that he is hoping that they continue to change the culture that they established last year at Norwood and in doing so will build for the future.

Denneen likes the fact that over the past two off seasons the girls have taken to heart his philosophy and having been taking part in both winter and spring soccer as well as summer leagues to prepare for the high school season. They are putting in the work to make a change within the program and expect to improve while believing in themselves as well as the system.

"The tournament is always a possibility; it is not something that is completely off the table, but it is something that we need to get to first," Denneen said. "In order to get to that point, we need to accomplish the small things first. Last year, it took us half a season to get going. This year, we need to do this in the first half of the season if we want to see a change.

Norwood opened the season on September 8 against powerhouse Westwood and things did not get any easier as their next two games will be against Medfield and Hopkinton. Following the opening of the season, Denneen will know a lot about this year's team and where they are capable of accomplishing.