Last year, Mary Louis had an uneven season before coming on late to earn a postseason berth on the final day of the regular season. TMLA ended up making a run to the championship game.
The Hilltoppers are hoping history repeats itself.
On Monday, Mary Louis beat St. Dominic, 5-1, at Cunningham Park in CHSAA Nassau/Suffolk Class A girls soccer to ensure a trip to the playoffs. The fourth-seeded Hilltoppers, winners of two straight, will meet top seed Our Lady of Mercy – their opponent last year – in the semifinals Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. in Syosset, L.I.
“Morale is high,” coach Nicole Madtes said. “I hope it carries over to Wednesday.”
The five-goal outburst was one of the most impressive all season for Mary Louis (3-9-1), which has had its offensive struggles. When sophomore Alex Wurglics nabbed her first goal of the year early in the game, the Hilltoppers got pumped and scoring became contagious.
“It was like a whole other team today,” Madtes said.
Christina Sullivan scored next, then Victoria Zacharuk made it 3-0 going into halftime. TMLA wasn’t done either. Deirdre Ray gave the Hilltoppers a 4-0 lead before St. Dom’s scored its first goal. Then Summer Calenberg put the explanation point on the victory.
There was certainly some tangible motivation with a playoff spot hanging in the balance. A loss to rival Archbishop Molloy, the team Mary Louis lost to in last year’s title game, last Wednesday made this game all the more important. Molloy earned the No. 2 seed and will host No. 3 St. Mary’s in the semis Wednesday at Alley Pond Park.
“They knew we had to pull out some wins to get points,” Madtes said.
Essentially, the inconsistency of the regular season has been erased now. Mary Louis, which features 11 sophomores, graduated 13 seniors off last year’s team. Being in the playoffs, with a chance do damage again, is just fine with Madtes.
“We’re really young,” the first-year head coach said. “This varsity should really be a JV team. I knew coming into it that it was gonna be rough.”
At least now the Hilltoppers have a chance to smooth it out.
