By: Neva Bostic | Staff Writer
The Salve Regina Women’s Soccer team is a crew of rugged, fleet-footed sisters-literally!
The team holds three sets of sisters: the Szemreylo twins Katie and Emily who are both senior captains, Mia and Meaghan Papira who are twins in the junior class, and the Mclaughlin sisters Kayla and Meagan.
Meagan Mclaughlin, the freshman phenom and CCC Rookie of the Week who leads the team in scored goals at eight, let me know a little bit more about what it’s like to play with this close-knit group. “Having three sets of sisters definitely affects our team dynamic because we are all so close,” she said. “At times, yeah, we argue because we’re like a family but at the end of the day we make each other better because of it and push ourselves to be the best that we can be.”
This is a team heavily influenced by their team chemistry. They are driven to improve and get better to win games, but their main weapon that puts them ahead of most teams is their ability to train while also having fun, largely due to the culture of having sisters on the team.
“It is actually really fun playing with my sister Kayla and seeing each other on the field and playing together,” says Meagan. “But it is honestly the most fun at practice when you go against you sister and you just start laughing and can’t stop, it’s contagious.”
The team’s value of family brings their practices to the next level because it allows them to be both competitive and intertwined. As Meagan explains, “It is honestly the best playing with people you have developed friendships with that you know will last a really long time.”
The team is 7-5 overall, boasting 2-1 record in conference play at this point in the season. According to Meagan, the team goal is to make it to the conference championship this year, a goal which is not far out of sight considering the team’s big win over the #1 seeded Endicott Gulls.
“If we can beat them I feel like we can beat anyone at this point in the conference”, said Meagan in our interview. The team suffered a setback Saturday with a loss in overtime to Roger Williams who is overall ranked 5th in the conference while Salve sits in 6th. Will they come back? Tune in this coming Saturday for their next game in conference play against The University of New England at Reynolds Field.
