Standouts and takeaways from the NEPSAC girls preseason showcase at Worcester Academy

Austin Prep's Ellie Poulos scored four goals at Monday's Find Me showcase. (Austin Prep) WORCESTER, Mass. — Consider Monday's Find Me Fall Festival at Worcester Academy an early preview of what's to come. The preseason NEPSAC girls showcase drew five teams from our preseason Top 10, including Class A favorites Worcester Academy, Loomis Chaffee, and Choate. Beyond them, we had upstart Austin Prep, young BB&N and buzzy Northfield Mount Hermon playing too. That's a stacked lineup, and it made for an entertaining day at the inaugural showcase, which had 30 college coaches in attendance. Preseason scrimmages don't tell the whole story; the matches were only 60 minutes long, and coaches rotated players in and out. But Monday gave us an inside look at which teams and players are poised for big years. It also let me see teams in person for the first time following months of phone conversations with coaches and watching highlight tapes on YouTube. I watched three full matches on Monday: Loomis Chaffee vs. Worcester Academy, Choate vs. Austin Prep and Choate vs. BB&N, then caught a little of the first half between Northfield Mount Hermon and Middlesex. Here are my takeaways from the Find Me showcase at Worcester Academy