Sisters Ally and Ava Murphy motivate, inspire each other’s path to success

Ally Murphy attends Worcester Academy, while sister Ava is a junior at Winchester (Mass.) High. (Burt Granofsky/NESJ)

In the final minutes of the last game of the 2020 season for the Winchester (Mass.) High School girls’ soccer team, Ava Murphy pushed the ball up the sideline, looking to make a play.

It was Murphy’s first game since making a full recovery from an ACL tear she suffered the previous season. So when she scored her first and only goal of the year, it was an emotional moment for her.

"It definitely made me feel really good," Murphy said. "I started crying, actually. I finally felt like I was myself again."

Sitting on the bench at the time was Ally Murphy, who cried with her younger sister. While she was having another All-State year for Winchester, she watched Ava strive to get back onto the field, even in an abbreviated season with no state tournament.