Marshwood girls soccer captains Chelsea Watson, left, Katy Marshall, center, and Brittany Henley will pursue different paths after their senior seasons.Rich Beauchesne/rbeauche

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SOUTH BERWICK, Maine � There are different levels of pressure.

Brittany Henley, a back and a captain on the Marshwood High School girls soccer team, may sense butterflies in her stomach before a big game, or feel her pulse rate quicken when a top opposing striker bears down on her.

But those pale in comparison to what awaits her next month � face-to-face interviews with U.S. senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, who will then decide whether or not to appoint her to the incoming class at the U.S. Naval Academy.

"I've got everything else done," said Henley. "I've qualified physically. So I'm just really excited and getting ready for those."

Henley and two of the Hawks' other senior captains � goalie Chelsea Watson and injured forward Katy Marshall � are intent on helping their team make another long foray into the Western Maine Class A postseason. One year after reaching the regional finals, the Hawks were 4-3-2 heading into the weekend.

But as the finish lines to their high school races come into sight, all three have bigger issues looming � in both sports and life.

Henley is the only one of the three who's made peace with not playing intercollegiate athletics. Ranked ninth in her class with a 4.0 GPA, she hopes to be appointed to Navy, where she will balance her rigorous studies with competitive intramurals.

"I've been thinking about it my whole high school career," said Henley. "I went to a summer seminar (there) and that's when I really got interested. ...; I'd really like to serve on a ship, and afterwards I'd like to teach or do something for science."

For the next month or so, she's charged with keeping opposing strikers from getting a clear shot at Watson.

"It's a really selfless position," she said. "You don't get to score goals but it really helps the team. I like being aggressive and being tough."

A reed-thin 5-foot-8, Henley draws on that toughness � and her strong Christian faith � to succeed both on the pitch and off.

"She doesn't look physically intimidating, but she plays like she's 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds," said Marshwood coach Bob Pierce. "She's the one kid in practice that nobody wants to play against."

Career interrupted

Three months ago, Marshall was on the fast track to soccer stardom. A varsity player since her freshman year, she was coming off a junior season that saw her named to the All-SMAA second team.

She spent the summer playing for a Portland Phoenix Under-17 team. Because of her age, she was asked to help out on a U-16 team for one final game.

"The last 15 minutes, I was chasing behind this girl on defense and tripped, somehow," she said. "My knee bent in and popped really loud."

The result? A torn ACL. She will undergo surgery on Thursday, and the ensuing six months of rehab will completely erase her entire soccer and basketball seasons. The injury has also wiped out a lot of potential Division I interest.

"I try not to let it get to me because I realize I can't fix it," she said. "Just have to deal with it, I guess. But it's been hard. Being real successful last year and not being able to help the team this year is very frustrating."

Marshall, whose versatility has seen her play everywhere from back to forward, had received some light Division I interest in the months leading up her injury, from UNH among other schools. Her good size and strong leg made her the player who took all corner kicks and free kicks.

She was also someone slated to help fill the void left by the graduation of Elise Amioka, who scored 22 goals as a senior and earned a full scholarship to Division I Colgate.

"At the end of last season I figured she'd be the most talented player I had coming back,' said Pierce. "She had � and has � the ability to play Division I in college. ...; (The injury) was a personal setback and, for our team, a collective setback."

Marshall, who hopes to rehab successfully and get clearance to catch the end of the Maine Metro FC season in the spring, is present at every practice and match, and plans to be on the court for every basketball session as well this winter.

"It's hard for me to stay positive sometimes on the sidelines, but I try to stay up and give them support," she said. "I try to be there for them in a different way, just not on the field."

Playing big

Watson began playing goal at the U-8 level, and quickly showed a knack for it. Many of the movements required had similar roots to the ones she was making as a shortstop on the softball diamond.

"It just reminded me so much of softball," she said. "I felt like I was taking ground balls and fly balls. I could do that for hours."

But as she climbed the levels of the youth soccer pyramid, her height stopped climbing with her. For four years on the varsity � at 5-foot-2 � she's been effective, though undersized.

"I feel if I was a little taller I could expand soccer in college, but my height finally did catch up to me," she said. "I know there were some goals that have gone by that I had the height it would have been very helpful."

It didn't stop her from posting a goals-against average of 0.40 last season. She was unbeaten and unscored upon in home matches.

"If she were three inches taller she'd be playing D-I, no question," said Pierce.

Watson, who will also captain the basketball and softball team this year, is still sifting through college possibilities. Her first aim is to play softball at the Division II or III level at a school, where she can study athletic training. If soccer can be a part of that experience, she'd embrace that too.

In the net, her focus is unmatched. As the Hawks wound down practice in a light rain Thursday afternoon, the 15 or so non-goalies knew they had to beat Watson with a certain number of shots, or else run sprints. It took four times through the exercise before Watson relented, and only then because the goal threshold had been bumped down to two.

With seven months before graduation, Henley, Marshall and Watson have big questions to answer about their futures. But with just three weeks until the Class A playoffs get underway, their focus is appropriately narrowed.

"Our expectation is to get farther than we usually do," said Watson. "We need to take one more step to get to the state championship."

Pierce, who plans to step down after this season, relishes one final go-round with his three senior leaders.

"One of the joys of coaching is you get such different personalities," he said. "Katy is the quintessential athlete. She's confident in her abilities. Brittany gets by on her grit and determination and her source of personal calm and strength. With Chelsea, it's her emotions. She has her game face on 24/7."