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01/10/2018 11:00 PMAllie Augur has been the starting goalie for the North Branford girls’ soccer squad since her freshman year, and she’s played great during each of her three seasons. However, the 2017 season was Allie’s most successful one yet as the junior collected a wide variety of honors, while helping the Thunderbirds win the Shoreline Conference title. Allie made the All-Conference First Team, All-State, and All-Region, in addition to earning one of the biggest honors of all when she was named an All-American. Allie is going to Philadelphia this month to attend a luncheon where she and her fellow All-Americans will be recognized.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t have gotten those awards without my team. We push each other on and off the field to be the best we can be. It’s an amazing honor that I’m so thankful for,” says Allie of being an All-American. “I had the support of everyone around me. Ever since I started, they were telling me if I worked hard, things can happen. Now, it’s coming true.”
Allie saw just nine goals slide past her this past fall. Allie says her success was not only the result of the saves she made, but also the stellar play of the defenders in front of her.
“There is so much going on. As a keeper, you’re the last line of defense. When you communicate, you’re helping yourself and your team. Along with that communication, we built a relationship. The back four was strong. We knew what we were doing and how we’d do it. That helped to build that team bond,” Allie says. “Ever since we were younger, we knew each other and worked well as a team. That’s why we’ve had so much success.”
Head Coach Pat Kozloski has been impressed with Allie’s eagerness to learn throughout her high school career. This year, especially, Kozloski felt that Allie got more involved with other areas of the game in order to increase her already high soccer IQ.
“She’s just a sponge. She’s always asking me and [assistant coach Dewey Boatman] ways to get better, about different defensive schemes, and how we can stop an opponent’s attack. When we’re reviewing corners, she’s thinking of ways that would benefit us to defend. She’s always looking for more information,” says Kozloski. “Her work ethic is unbelievable. For someone that is so accomplished, she continues to work hard, which has paid dividends for her.”
Allie uses her strategical savvy to put her teammates in spots that make it a struggle for the other team to move the ball into North Branford’s end of the field. And when the opposition does put a shot on net, Allie’s athletic abilities take over. Allie makes great saves look routine, and she says that’s her favorite part about playing goal.
“It’s honestly that feeling I get when I step on the field and make the saves, and you don’t know how it happened. Those are the moments that push me to be the best I can be,” Allie says. “As much as there are good and bad times, it’s knowing I’m one of 11 on the field, and we’re working together and working to win.”
Looking ahead to her senior year, Allie is excited to be one of the T-Birds’ captains. Although she acted like a leader on the field this season, Allie will officially have that title next fall.
“I’m really excited. Coming in my freshman year, I was looking at the captains and wanted to be them one day. Now, almost four years later, and I can be that leader,” she says. “It’s extremely important to me, and it means a lot not only to me, but fellow senior captains Jessie [Kilburn], Ana [Pavic], and Caitlin [May].”
Even with one more high school season to go, Allie has already verbally committed to play soccer at Division I Boston College. Allie feels at home in Boston and is looking forward to that chapter of her life, although she knows that she’ll always have a home in North Branford.
“Starting with the school, I fell in love with it. The school is beautiful and, when I met the coaches and the team, I know that’s where I had to be. I want to be an Eagle, and I want to wear that jersey. I’ll be extremely sad to no longer play for North Branford, but the next chapter, playing at a school like B.C., is an amazing honor,” says Allie. “I wouldn’t be where I am without my teammates. North Branford High School has allowed me to become the athlete I am, and I wouldn’t imagine it any other way.”