Defensive duo helping H/B back to the top

It’s not easy for anyone to train her replacement.

McHale Perkins has been doing it since middle school.

The Hollis/Brookline High School senior is a captain on the girls soccer team and the backbone of the Cavaliers’ defensive unit.

And for the better part of the last five years, Perkins has played in the backfield alongside junior Emily Lombardi, helping to keep H/B at the top of whichever division the team has competed.

When Perkins graduates in the spring, and continues her soccer career at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, that spot in the center of the Cavs’ defense will belong to Lombardi.

“(Lombardi) has played with McHale the last three years, learned from McHale, and she’s going to be taking over the backline next year,” said H/B coach Craig Powers, who described Lombardi as the Cavs’ “unsung hero.”

Perkins and Lombardi played together when the former was in eighth grade, and other than Perkins’s freshman year, they’ve been side-by-side since. Although its odd for Lombardi to imagine herself trying to fill her teammate’s shoes, Perkins has known it would happen almost since middle school.

“I always sensed it,” Perkins said. “We’ve always been a team in the back, we’ve always worked together. She knows what she’s doing. When I screw up she fixes my mistakes. She’ll fit right in and she’ll probably do better than I would.”

While it will be tough for Lombardi to replace the physical attributes of a player who was first-team all-state as a junior, she’s focused on other aspects of the game.

“McHale’s always talking and giving directions,” Lombardi said. “It’s definitely different than what I was playing. The three years I’ve been here, I’ve been playing on the outside.”

In order to make next year’s transition smoother, in games the Cavs already have in hand, Powers has moved Lombardi into that center back position and slid Perkins up to the midfield. That switch has been beneficial to Perkins as much as it’s been to Lombardi.

“It makes me appreciate what the other players on our team have to do because I’ve never really had to play in their role,” Perkins said. “When I have to step into their shoes, it’s hard. It definitely makes me appreciate them more, but at the same time, I like to see how I would play or attack on a center defender, which I would never get to do.”

For Lombardi, it’s been strange look downfield to see her defensive partner in a different position.

“Now that I’ve been back there, I can see from her view,” Lombardi said. “It’s different. I felt like there was more of a responsibility because I’m the last person.”

Before Lombardi gets to take over full time, the Cavs have to finish out this season, their first in Division I.

After coming up short in the Class I finals the last three years, H/B decided to take on a bigger challenge and move up a division this season.

So far, the Cavs have fit right in with the teams from larger schools. Going into Tuesday’s game against Bishop Guertin, H/B was 12-1-1, with the loss to Exeter, which won three of the last four Class L titles, and the tie to Hanover.

Perhaps the most challenging part for the Cavs has been figuring teams out as they go. But even that might be to the team’s benefit, Powers said.

“We don’t know what they’re going to throw at us or how they play,” he said. “It forces us to be a lot sharper and allows us to avoid the peaks and valleys that when you play against a team that you know, it’s hard to get the girls up.”

Perkins has noticed a difference in the way the team has played this season.

“I’ve noticed that everyone has a sense of responsibility and everyone has stepped up their game,” she said. “When everyone works harder we play better as a team. We step up for each other, even if we’re tired during the games. We do it for each other because we like each other that much.”

The players get along well, and they understand the pressure that was placed on them by moving up to a higher division.

“They respect the confidence that the school placed in them to play up,” Powers said. “My senior class has gone to the dance three years in a row, and took second place. They very easily could have said ‘I want to graduate with a championship, let’s stay in Division II.’

“But to a player, they said no, let’s take the challenge. They were a big part of the decision making. These kids are seniors only one time. I can come back next year and coach. They only get one shot at it. I was sensitive to what they really cared about, and I think they would much rather be in the big arena. They want to be a big frog in a big pond.”

The Cavs have two more games against Bishop Guertin (8-5-1) and Pinkerton (8-5-1). After that, the postseason starts on Oct. 26, and that’s when H/B will be looking to make a big splash.