{"id":3483,"date":"2017-09-20T18:44:08","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T18:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/?p=3483"},"modified":"2017-10-02T15:54:19","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T15:54:19","slug":"lifelong-friendship-binds-girls-soccer-captains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/2017\/09\/20\/lifelong-friendship-binds-girls-soccer-captains\/","title":{"rendered":"Lifelong Friendship Binds Girls Soccer Captains"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Madison Fulcher-Melendy and Fiona Bundy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Matt Liebowitz<\/em><\/p>\n

When Madison Fulcher-Melendy scored a header goal on the Northampton Hornets, her teammate, fellow third-grader Fiona Bundy, was right there cheering her on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was so cool,\u201d said Fiona.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was probably the highlight of my career,\u201d Madison jokingly added.<\/p>\n

They have come a long way since then, but Fiona and Madison are still fans of each other, and still playing on the same teams. They\u2019ve had plenty of on-field time to foster that friendship: When they stepped onto the soccer field for this year\u2019s pre-season workouts, it marked the fourth year running playing on Williston\u2019s varsity squad together under the coaching of Jen Fulcher (Madison\u2019s mom).<\/p>\n

Fiona and Madison, both 17, are co-captains of the soccer team; both athletes captain the Williston basketball and lacrosse teams as well. With a few exceptions, they\u2019ve played all three sports together on the same team since seventh grade. But their athletic partnership has roots that go back way beyond Williston.<\/p>\n

Both seniors attended the Smith College Campus School, in Northampton, and have known each other since age five. Although they weren\u2019t always as close as they are now.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started out in different friend groups,\u201d said Madison, \u201cbut through sports we started hanging out a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The friendship clearly stuck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t explain how much time we spend together,\u201d said Fiona, who noted they\u2019ve traveled to Paris and Belize together, as well as to sports camps throughout the Northeast and down the Atlantic coast to Florida.<\/p>\n

Fiona anchors Williston\u2019s defense as center back, and Madison plays forward and midfield. Fiona will be taking her talents to Bowdoin College next year; Madison will play at Williams College. Despite their prowess on the field, however, they won\u2019t be playing soccer in college; instead, both\u00a0have chosen to concentrate on lacrosse for their college athletic careers.<\/p>\n

Both girls admitted they prefer lacrosse for its more exciting, faster pace, and the multitude of roles each player can take on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more clearly a possession game,\u201d Fiona said. \u201cYou feel you can control that more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madison agreed, and explained the noticeable influence lacrosse has had on her and Fiona\u2019s outstanding academic achievements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about work ethic,\u201d Madison said, \u201cbeing able to commit to something and focus on it wholeheartedly. With tests, I try to think of it as game day.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to put it all out there for this one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiona said the time she and Mads, as she calls her, spend on the field is also a welcome respite from working diligently all day in class.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something you just look forward to at the end of the day that isn\u2019t homework,\u201d Fiona said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a really nice way to take the pressure off and release your stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s natural to think two highly competitive athletes, who during the recruiting process were often looked at by the same coaches, would occasionally let their skill and adrenaline get the best of them. But both are adamant they never argue, on or off the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think probably athletics has helped with that,\u201d Madison said. \u201cYou can\u2019t fight on the field.\u201d She said her relationship with Fiona is not competitive. \u201cWe just make each other better,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In fact, owing to their competitive natures and physical nature of their playing style, both try to avoid matching up against the other in practice, for any sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate guarding her,\u201d Fiona said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever we\u2019re supposed to play against one another, I let someone go in front of me,\u201d Madison added.<\/p>\n

As if scripted, both then said, \u201cShe\u2019s so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next year, it\u2019s possible Fiona and Madison will finally be forced to square off against each other; both Williams and Bowdoin are members of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).<\/p>\n

Fiona and Madison both smiled at the thought of seeing one another on the field, finally, for the first time, wearing different jerseys.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully we won\u2019t have to guard each other,\u201d Madison said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matt Liebowitz When Madison Fulcher-Melendy scored a header goal on the Northampton Hornets, her teammate, fellow third-grader Fiona Bundy, was right there cheering her on. \u201cI thought it was so cool,\u201d said Fiona. \u201cThat was probably the highlight of my career,\u201d Madison jokingly added. They have come a long way since then, but Fiona … Continue reading Lifelong Friendship Binds Girls Soccer Captains<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-athlete-profile"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3483"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3520,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3483\/revisions\/3520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/athletics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}