Successful Fall Season Takes Girls' Soccer to NEPSAC Championships

Expect the unexpected. That’s what the varsity girls’ soccer program taught the Cheshire Academy community this fall season.

After coming off a rough 2021-2022 season during which the team won only one game, returning players were joined by several newly recruited teammates and new head coach Andrei Popescu, the latter of whom came to CA with more than 15 years of coaching experience.

While new relationships had to be built in a short period of time, the girls ultimately walked away with an undefeated 15-0-2 record in the regular season and a trip to the NEPSAC Class B Conference. Despite giving it their all on Simosa Field during the quarterfinals, they fell 5-2 to Brooks School.

Stella Liebler ’23, a captain alongside Shannon Anderson ’23, Delisianna Naccarato ’23, and Madison Olmstead ’23, had her reservations before the season started. “I knew Popescu was a good coach, but … I didn’t have really high expectations.”

That mindset changed after the team’s first few weeks — and the first of many wins — of the season. At Williston Northampton on Sept. 14, the girls walked away with a 2-0 victory. And just a few days later on Sept. 17, the girls hosted Canterbury, winning 3-2.

“We have never beaten Canterbury, for as long as I can remember,” reflected Liebler. “Going into that game, it was a real test of how the team was going to be.”

Canterbury was a turning point for Liebler and many of her teammates. That win presented a mentality shift that Popescu had been working toward since he first signed on as head coach and met with the girls during preseason.

“The girls didn’t have a winning mentality. They weren’t used to winning a lot, so that was the hardest thing,” Popescu explained. “The more they started believing, the more they were performing and pushing it and seeing that light at the end of the tunnel, which was playoffs and winning the league.”

A postgraduate coming off of a prior injury, Naccarato joined her sister, Azaria ’25, this year. She joked that her peers told her to anticipate a season of losing, so she was pleasantly surprised when the opposite occurred. But with their success came additional stress to perform.

“I feel like we didn’t let the pressure get to us because we ended up winning those games, but we earned those wins,” Naccarato.

One game in particular in which the girls believed they earned the win was their bout against Greens Farms Academy (Sept. 24, 3-2). The girls were suffering from a few injuries and did not have a deep bench, but they pushed themselves — and persevered.

“The scores don’t really reflect how we played,” Liebler said.

At the quarterfinals, the team was riddled with injuries and fatigue, coming off of several very physical games. Although their season ended that night, the team and the CA community are proud of what they accomplished.

“As the season was coming to an end, we definitely started getting more and more tired and had injuries," Popescu said. “With the number of players and the talent that we had, I think we did push the envelope and played against teams comprised of half or more premier players, playing all year round … The girls showed a lot of resilience, they were very consistent, they gave all their effort, and I couldn’t ask for more.”

Liebler added, “I think it was just really special for all of us, especially for me and Maddy. It’s been a rough four years (of soccer); we didn’t expect much for the season and it just means a lot that we were able to make history and set this new record.”

And looking to next season, Popescu is ready to coach the team to another winning season and a spot back in the conference. He’ll be without the four co-captains and fellow senior Emma Nosal ’23, but has a strong roster of current 9th, 10th, and 11th grade players ready to take on more responsibility both on and off the field.

“Over the next few years, we will focus on building a top program that will be respected,” Popescu said. “We’ll try to keep growing every year to get better and better.”

Athletic Director Jim McCarthy added, “The coaches and players deserve a ton of credit for the commitment and sacrifice they put into the season. We had contributions from so many different student-athletes throughout the course of the year. We’re also excited about the overall interest level in playing girls’ soccer at CA, as this was our largest roster in recent years.”