The Mt. Hope High School girls' soccer team enters the 2026 season with some lofty objectives. The Huskies expect to once again be at the fore in the chase for a state title, and they can rightfully be considered contenders because of its superb group of seniors.

All five of the MHHS senior co-captains bring a range of talents to the club, both on and off the field, led by future Division I college players Emma Goglia and Elise Lanoie. Classmates Kendra Ascoli and Sara Nencka will also continue their careers on the pitch next fall. Aubrey Cummings, though a skilled footballer, intends to play lacrosse at the next level.

"My five captains this season have been starters for me since their freshmen year," said MHHS head coach Kerri Giarrusso, the all-time leading scorer in Huskies history who herself played Division I college at the University of Hartford. "They have tons of experience and the five of them lead in all different ways."

Goglia, a midfielder, is coming off a superb junior outing in 2025 when she was chosen as a United Soccer Coaches Association All-American, was named to the USCA All-Region team and was both a first-team All-State and All-Division selection.

She's headed to Boston College and the Atlantic Coast Conference not next fall, but after the first semester of the 2026-27 term. Goglia is graduating early and will be a member of the Eagles in time for the new spring portion of the college season. Rather than being fully contained in the fall, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has instituted a split schedule spread over each semester for women's and men's soccer this year, more closely mirroring the international calendar for the sport.

"Literally, the spring coming up because they're playing year-round," Goglia explained. She's continuing a family tradition of plying her craft at the upper echelons in college. Brother Emerson is currently a sophomore at the University of Rhode Island while sister Michaela played at D-I Stony Brook on Long Island, N.Y.

"I'm doing this accelerating thing because it's an amazing opportunity for me to be able to try to go pro," Goglia continued. "It's just education-wise, too. Boston College was my main go-to. I'm majoring in biochemistry. So it's a good education. It's amazing."

Lanoie, a stalwart on defense for the Huskies throughout her career, is taking the more traditional path when she attends Hofstra University on Long Island next fall. She's also coming off an All-Division effort in 2025.

"I love it. It's really nice," Lanoie said of her choice to join the Pride, which plays in the Coastal (formerly Colonial) Athletic Association. "I think it's really competitive. It's going to be a challenge for me because I did have other D-I offers, but they weren't as high as Hofstra. I was like, 'why not challenge myself?' Because I need to challenge if I want to go bigger and better, even to (transfer to) a Power 5 school. I need to challenge myself like that."

Ascoli, a midfielder who chosen as the recipient of the prestigious Rhode Island Interscholastic League Alice Sullivan Perseverance Award last fall, is headed to Barry University in Miami, Fla. next season where she'll join the Buccaneers in the Division II Sunshine State Conference.

"It's a great school. I love the coaches. The players are amazing. It's a great team," Ascoli said of her college choice. "Academically, they have the program (Physician Assistant) I want to go to, so it was just a great fit for me."

Nencka, a forward and the team's leading returning goal scorer this fall, was also an All-Division performer in 2025. She'll attend Trinity College in Hartford next year becoming a member of the Bantams' program, which is one of the top Division III sides in the region and plays out of the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

"I'm going for biology, and then going pre-med track. I haven't decided like what specialty yet, but I'll see once I get there. I definitely want to get a higher education, and Trinity is really good at that," Nencka explained. "They have really good academics, but they're also competitive for soccer."

Cummings, a defender in soccer, is the lone senior among the captains group that remains uncommitted as to where she'll head next. But she still has ample time to make her decision. The signing period for women's lacrosse is traditionally the spring from April to mid-May, so her options remain open before she needs to choose a school