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Mahoney motors the Clippers' engine

Wednesday, November, 14 By John Shimer
Staff writer

She may just be the key piece that makes everything else run so smoothly in the highest scoring offense in Newburyport girls soccer history.

A back-to-back All-League player, Maggie Mahoney currently stands as Newburyport's fourth all-time leading points scorer with 89 (41 goals, 48 assists), but it may be the team's accomplishments that mark her stature in school history.

In consecutive seasons the Clippers have set school marks for goals, last year it was 78 with the tournament included, this year its 94 and counting. No small accomplishment in the tough CAL conference.

Two of the three girls ahead of Mahoney on the all-time points' list at Newburyport -- current teammates Jillian Kinter and Laura Muise -- in large part can thank Mahoney for some great service over the years.

Although a terrific scorer in her own right, Gonnam said Mahoney has never been the top scorer on the team. Instead her role as the top center forward is to receive the ball deep in the offensive end of the field and look to distribute to the wing forwards.

"I believe in playing the ball up the middle of the field and her ability to hold the ball allows us to send numbers forward with confidence that she will not give up the ball," commented Gonnam of Mahoney's terrific play-making ability. "She has a 70 percent plus-minus ratio meaning seven out of 10 times she has the ball she will create a positive play instead of losing the ball, which is incredibly high. We win games that way."

Her coach says she also has a rare ability to get open and virtually post up her defenders without being a physically imposing player.

"She is one of the two or three best players in Newburyport's history at holding the ball under pressure, an incredibly vital part of how we run our offense," Newburyport coach Robb Gonnam said. "She has a nack for making herself an available target for our players by getting her body in great position, which then creates opportunities for her teammates."

What has been particularly noticeable has been the pin point passing of Newburyport throughout the tournament often times making other teams look like they are standing still, which has run right through Mahoney.

"She has just been on fire with her one-touch passing in terms of making accurate passes to teammates' feet that move the ball at a high speed up the field," Gonnam said. "When we are able to combine in that manner the only way to stop the play is to stop our shot."

For Mahoney and her teammates, the history of playing together for so many years is what she credits for the team's telepathic like success on the field.

"We have all been playing together since we were young kids, and I have the confidence to know that Jillian is going to make one run, Micaela is going to be in another spot, and Laura will be making a different run," Mahoney said. "Our offense is geared to score, and as the top spot, my job is to find those girls in the best spots to score."

Perhaps the testament to what Mahoney has meant to Gonnam's program throughout her high school career is not just that Gonnam compares her to sister Kristin (the school's all-time leading scorer at 150 points) in ability, but the fact that he is already worrying about the first game next season his team has to walk out on the field without his star center piece.

"There is simply no one else in our program that can play the way Maggie plays, and I think we will have to adjust the way we play a year from now," Gonnam said. "She has a stabilizing impact on our team, and she will be extremely difficult to replace."

With potentially two games left in her stellar career, Mahoney and her Clipper sister have the chance to put up one more record that has never been accomplished in the girls program, a state championship.