Tanners, minus cocaptain, still hot
Manoogian sisters miss final season together
Peabody coach Dennis Desroches speaks to his soccer team, which has been beset with injuries, at practice last week. (Photos by Lisa Poole for the Boston Globe) Choking back tears, Alyssa Manoogian only had to make eye contact with her little sister, Emily for her to know they wouldn't have one more soccer season together at Peabody High School. The elder Manoogian, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during a basketball game this past summer, had just received the doctor's verdict when she drove herself to the practice field to break the news to her sister and the rest of her teammates.
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"She immediately came over to my car," said Alyssa Manoogian, the MVP of the Northeastern Conference last season, who will play at Colgate next fall. "[Emily] just knew. I tried to hide it but she knows. She knows by the look in my eye when something's not right. Being my sister, that's the way it is. She was strong at first; she hugged me and said 'It's OK, it's not the end of the world.' . . . She wanted to be strong because I was a mess."
Two years apart, the sisters only had last season together on the field and they were looking forward to one more before big sis went off to college.
"I thought we were going to play two seasons together," Emily said. "I was wicked excited. Our last game, we didn't even think it would be the last so it stinks. I would give anything to be out there with her."
Luckily, Peabody was far from a one-player show. Featuring the top three scorers in the league last year, the Tanners went 18-2 before losing to Winchester in the second round of the state tournament. Erika Digiacomo, a junior last year, had 28 goals and 20 assists while Alyssa Manoogian had 22 goals and 24 assists. As a freshman, Emily Manoogian added 17 goals and 12 assists.
This season they are doing well without their midfield leader and cocaptain. Through nine games, Digiacomo has netted 9 goals and 11 assists for Peabody (7-2) while Emily Manoogian has 12 goals and 5 assists, playing her sister's old position.
"She plays midfield on her club team so she wasn't out of position," Alyssa Manoogian said of her sister, who played forward last season. "It's definitely an adjustment but she's not struggling."
The Tanners have endured other injuries as well this season. Sophomore sweeper Angie Ellison went down after the second game with a stress fracture in her foot and another captain, senior Caitlyn Tinkham, just returned this past week from an injury.
"Just like any other team, we have injuries," Peabody coach Dennis Desroches said. "I guess it's our turn now. It just seems like injuries hit our impact players."
Desroches does look at the sunny side, saying that losing his star athlete has allowed him to put a down payment on the future rather than relying on one player.
"These other players are getting time on the field, that experience of knowing they have to perform and produce," he said, adding that Manoogian left a void that can't be filled.
"She could score, but what made her extremely successful on the field was that she had awesome field vision and was able to distribute that ball. Above that, her tenacity on the field, her almost refusal to lose, and her unwillingness to fail can't be replaced."
Alyssa said she is enjoying her role as coach and cheerleader but said it's easier done than said when it comes to telling her teammates what to do on the field.
"It's harder from the sidelines not to physically be able to do it, but I know they respect what I have to say so it makes it easier," she said.
Her sister added: "I know she might be telling me to shoot the ball early, and I might be mad at the time, but I know she's right."
Recently Alyssa hasn't spent as much time with the team - she underwent surgery less than two weeks ago. Once she starts rehabilitation, she will not be able to be around the team as much either.
When Alyssa is there to watch games, Emily sometimes feels guilty playing the game her big sister can't.
"I try to make the most of it and play as hard as I can," Emily said, "because I know she would give anything to be out there."
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