October 5, 2025 – Story by Joshua Ross
Carolyn Downey and Maddie McCoy shared more than just the love of gymnastics, soccer, and lacrosse together – they shared the same birthday.
This connection formed a bond that made them inseparable up until Maddie’s passing in May of 2019 from rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of soft tissue cancer. Maddie’s Promise was created to fulfill the hopes and dreams of Maddie to help other cancer patients and the homeless by raising much needed funds for treatment and resources.
Maddie’s passion for soccer inspired the Hingham High School girls soccer team to be a champion of Maddie’s Promise from the beginning, and in what would have been Maddie’s senior year, that commitment has never been stronger.
Honoring the Legacy of a Teammate
As this year’s seniors were honored Friday night during a pregame ceremony, it was only fitting that Maddie was included with many of her former teammates, including Downey, one of this year’s captains. Maddie’s parents Ann and Steve, who coached many of these girls, joined the seniors for a family photo on the field. With Maddie’s senior banner hanging with the rest of her teammates along the fence, she was able to be a part of her team once again.
“To me and the whole team it meant so much to have her included on this night,” Downey said. “Many of the seniors and juniors played Hingham Youth soccer and Club Soccer at Galway with Maddie when we were little. Our dads actually coached us. Even when Maddie got sick she never wanted to stop, she played through it all for as long as she could. The McCoys have continued to be a big part of the Hingham Girls Soccer program, and it just felt right to include them in this night. Lucy McCoy, Maddie’s younger sister, is now a freshman and apart of the program as well.”
To this day, and especially for this team, Maddie still inspires the people she touched in her short, but incredibly meaningful 11 years.
“Maddie’s selflessness and perseverance is something that the Hingham girls soccer program will always look up to.” Downey went on to say. “Even while fighting a horrible disease and going through treatment, she continued to do the things she loved while also thinking about what she could do to help others. The mission of Maddie’s Promise is so important and they have done amazing things to raise awareness and raise money to help kids fighting cancer. It’s been awesome to support that mission by playing a game every year solely dedicated to Maddie’s Promise.”
This year, both the girls and boys teams will be playing a Maddie’s Promise game. The doubleheader will take place on October, 18th – boys at 2pm, girls at 4pm.
Results on the Pitch
The girls still had to go out and play a game after very emotional ceremony against a very good Whitman-Hanson team. With just about half the season completed, the Harbormen are 7-2-1, including a 1-0 win on Friday.
“I love that every single player got on the field,” said second year head coach April Tremante. “It was senior night. It was a nice game to honor the seniors. We played well as a team. Whitman-Hanson always plays everyone in the league tough and strong. Most of their games this season have been a one or two goal game. So I knew that going into it, they’re physical, they’re tough. They never give up. We battled hard. We moved people around in different positions. People are flexible. We have a lot of depth on our team this year, so we have a lot of great players. So it’s nice to see out everyone out there working hard.”
Good Practices Equal Good Results in Games
Tremante has been focusing on a few things in practice that have really made an impact in recent games – passing and corner kicks. In Wednesday’s game vs Scituate, four of their six goals came off of corner kicks.
“We spend a lot of time at practices on possession play and one and two touch (drills). We’re working on ball skills. I don’t think most high school teams actually work on ball skills and passing anymore, but we always have room for improvement. Our best players know that they have to improve their first touch on the ball. Everyone knows that we have to get better. So we also work a lot on receiving the ball in the air during practice time as well. And you can see that our style of play, we move the ball out of the back. We also trust each other and we support each other. So playing one or two touch is what we try to do as much as we can.”
Tremante explains that winning isn’t the sole focus going into the games. It’s coming out ahead on the small things that result in good things happening at the end of games.
“If we can win the shots on goal, if we can win the balls in the air, and we can win the 50-50s, we’re probably going to win the game” she goes on to say. “So we talk about that a lot in practice, not necessarily how many goals you’ve scored or who’s scoring all these goals. Some games we score a lot and some games we don’t, but our goals each game are consistently win the 50-50s, win the air balls, win the shots on goals, win the corner kicks and it’s going to end up as a positive outcome.”
Using the Entire Roster
Tremante has found a way, whether by choice or necessity, to use most of her 25+ person roster. Some injuries and have forced her hand, but she also wants her girls to compete each and every game and practice to earn playing time.
“I’d love to see every single player in every single game, but it doesn’t always work out that way, especially at the varsity level,” Tremante explains. “But the girls know that I’m constantly evaluating them and they’re constantly competing for their position and their playing time. And so just because one player starts one game doesn’t mean they’re going to start the next game and that’s kind of how it goes. And we all support each other and we’re all contributing parts of the team whether they are on the field or not.”
In an unusual scenario for the goaltender position, she’s had to bring up someone from JV due to multiple injuries. Starting goaltender Caroline MacDonald went down with an ankle injury and back-up goaltender Paige Jones broke her leg last week in the Marshfield game. Freshman Annabelle Durta was called up from the JV team and has recorded two shutouts.
“She’s been phenomenal. The girls have embraced and welcomed her.”