Phillips Exeter bonds strong, with Tessa Shields at the center

Phillips Exeter Academy senior midfielder Tessa Shields (Ipswich, Mass.) is committed to UMass. (Courtesy)

Caroline Kagan (Ipswich, Mass.) hasn’t had what one would call a typical postgraduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy.

For one, she won’t set foot on campus as a grad student until next week.

Since September, the in-person bonding with teammates has been replaced with Zoom meetings and do-it-yourself training. But there’s a lot of reasons why Kagan, a University of Vermont commit, is looking forward to the upcoming spring season and being part of one of the region’s most talented teams.