Freese Scores Two Goals, Propels Brookline to D-1 State Semis

By Eliot Schickler

Sydney Freese scored twice for the Brookline High girls soccer team in a 2-0 home win over
sixth-seeded King Phillip Regional High on Thursday, November 14.

Freese, a senior quad captain for third-seeded Brookline, propelled them to victory at Parsons Field in the Division 1 quarterfinals, which catapulted the team into the Division 1 semifinals for the second straight year. Brookline raised its record to 11-6-3 and remained undefeated at Parsons Field during the tenure of Freese and her class in a battle between two teams nicknamed, the Warriors. King Phillip ended its season at 18-3.

Less than 30 seconds into the game, Freese gave Brookline a 1-0 lead when senior quad-captain Makena Hammond sent a cross to Freese, who found daylight going towards the net, where she easily buried her shot. The play began with junior defender Mirabelle Keselman passing it to senior quad-captain Vilena Tchernychev, who found junior Elin Lindgren-Palm. Lindgren then fed it to Hammond, and Brookline was off and running.

“I wanted to come out strong, and it was important to be super aggressive,” Freese said. “We needed to get going, and it was important to start the game strong.”

Brookline Coach Ben Peters said, “There’s no better way to start a game off and get the crowd excited than to score a goal 20 seconds into a game. It really just gave us the boost of confidence we needed to win that game.”

Momentum can be a team’s best friend in all sports. The force was behind Brookline after Freese ignited her team.

“I think the difference in this game was our strong start,” Tchernychev said. “We came at them with energy and scoring a goal early was pivotal.”

With 11:54 remaining in the half, Freese struck again. Tchernychev played a central role in getting the play started, by passing it to senior quad-captain Anna Leschly. Leschly then crossed it to Freese, who found daylight, went in, and scored to make it 2-0.

“Anna sent me a great cross, and I went in,” Freese said.

Leschly said, “I knew we had to get space, and I knew Sydney would finish.”

After Freese’s second goal, King Phillip junior goalie Lauren Obara was perfect in net, robbing Leschly, Tchernychev, Hammond, Freese, Lindgren-Palm, junior Junior Julia Vianello, along with sophomores Paige Hammond and Haley Ament.

Brookline senior goalie Julia Churwin also sparkled in the net and was the team’s biggest star after Freese. Churwin robbed King Phillip on many occasions with a few diving saves, and she also caught a few booming kicks.

“It was a matter of just staying focused, and playing with energy,” Churwin said.

This was Churwin’s first shutout of the 2024 playoffs.

“It feels amazing,” Churwin said. “I’m very excited, and I’m proud of the team.”

Having a strong defense supporting Churwin also helped her succeed between the pipes.

“Our defense was the difference against KP. They stepped up massively for our team and to keep a shutout against a talented team like KP is a huge accomplishment,” Peters said. “We worked on organizing our team defensively and just pure grit and determination. The girls stepped up in a big way last night.”

Seniors Babette Hall and Greta Radtke, along with Keselman, and Vianello, and junior Lila Cannon along with sophomores Jamie Magee and Hannah Greer were stellar in the backfield in support of Churwin.

“We just played hard out there, and we all played like a unit,” Hall said.

Playing well in the midfield were Tchernychev, Leschly, juniors Amalia Lindgren-Palm, Priscila Hill, and Jada Kimbro, along with sophomore Julianna Segal. Seniors Ashley Churwin and Nora Scheu, along with junior Eva Berkson contributed all over the field.

“We were prepared and knew what we had to do going into King Phillip,” Leschly said. “As I’ve said before, everyone is bought into the process and I think that showed tonight. To me, the difference tonight was the determination and grit, in both boxes, that every player on our team
displayed.”

Brookline, which started the year at 0-3-1, has come a long way.

“I think the grit this team has shown is a testament to the difficulties we faced earlier on in the season,” Tchernychev said. “Successful teams aren’t always the teams which go undefeated but
rather those who have faced adversity and come out on top. As a team, we have faced our fair share of difficult moments but we are fighters and know how to handle situations that don’t go our way.”

This is Brookline’s second straight year in the Division 1 semifinals.

“It’s really exciting to be back in the semifinals again, but it’s not what we ultimately want,” Peters said. “We want to win and we have more work to be done before that can happen.”

Tchernychev said, “It definitely feels good but I don’t think anyone on this team is satisfied with just the final four. We really want to make it to the finals and lift that trophy at the end of the season.”