Staten Island Academy’s eyes have never left the prize that eluded it last season.
The Tigers entered the NYSAISAA girls soccer final unbeaten, but picked the wrong time for their worst performance of the year in a lopsided loss to undefeated Riverdale. It was their third straight defeat in their last four appearances in the final.
“If we stay healthy with our experienced players we should be right back there,” said SIA coach Darlene Crowe, whose team won the ASIS and PSAA crowns. “I don’t expect anything less. That was an awful state championship game for us. … Everyone wants to get a chance to be back there again.”
Luckily for her, Danielle Fuller, the hero of last season’s playoffs, will be back on the pitch at forward. The senior scored 23 goals and 14 assists, including two each in two comeback wins in the NYSAISAA playoffs. She will now need to do it as the focus of opposing defenses with Amanda Moschella playing at Vermont.
Offensive catalyst Gabby Tricorico and her pinpoint through balls return to the midfield. Fuller should get goal-scoring help from Susan Wagner transfer Jeanine Nunez. The sophomore scored 14 goals for the Falcons last year.
“This year it’s not going to be a surprise,” Crowe said of Fuller. “Hopefully someone else picks up from that double team.”
She expects her sophomore class to fill in the spots where they lost key seniors. Senior Demi Quagliariello or sophomore Aura Tormey will be in the sweeper or stopper rolls to make up for the loss of sweeper Sarah Valero. Her sister Monica, a sophomore, will join freshman Linda Jean Delfini in the midfield. Junior Deanna Lambiasi is back in goal.
“Now they are really going to shine this year,” Crowe said of her sophomores. “They saw what it took without getting any pressure.”
Fieldston will also be relying on younger players with a few of its veterans deciding not to rejoin the team this season. Seniors Oona Wallace, Annie Kartheiser and UPenn-bound goalkeeper Kalijah Terilli will all not be back. Add that to the graduation of six starters and there will be a very new mix to a team last lost to SIA in the NYSAISAA semifinals last year.
“I don’t know if we will be as dominant as we have been in the last couple of years, but I think we are going to surprise people,” Eagles coach Chelsea Volpe.
A lot more responsibility will fall on goal-scoring sophomore forward Hanna Kaiser. She will be joined by sophomore Chloe Chansanoff and Volpe has already seen a chemistry develop. Senior Jenna Chansanoff will join Kate Miller at midfield. Annie Smith returns at sweeper. Athletic sophomore Carolyn Susman will take over in goal.
“I think they are going to cause a lot of trouble,” Volpe said of her forwards
Trouble is exactly what Poly Prep could be in the Ivy League a season after losing just one player to graduation while returning eight seniors. Midfielder Jessica Dahldorf is healthy again after missing all of last season with a back injury. Sam Domurat, who also stars on the lacrosse team with Dahldorf, returns at the midfield and forward spots with Clara Miles. Rosie Silber-Marker returns at midfield. Junior Briana Hart, KatieBeiter and Grace Dietshe will lead the defense along with Katie Friel back in net.
“I had a very long conversation with the senior class to tell them that this could be their year,” Poly coach Erin Early said. “It’s up to them.”
Senior Gillian Miller-Lewis will be back at center midfield and junior Sarah Heintz moves up from midfield to forward for Horace Mann. Coach Tim Sullivan helps freshmen Alexandra Davis, Alexandra Stier and Rachel Trebach can help bolster the midfield. Senior Claudia Lichtenberg takes over in goal.
“Everything is going to go through Gillian,” Sullivan said. “She is an excellent distributer.”
Dalton will need to make up for the loss of star forward Alexa Yurick. Senior captain Nora Bresette-Buccino returns at sweeper. The Tigers will be strong in the middle with junior center midfielders Taylor Wright and Jemma Issroff returning, along with outside mid Annelise Steele. Coach Sandy Taylor expects freshman Rosie Ehrlich to settle in right away at midfield. Trinity will also look to compete in the Ivy League.
Columbia Prep returns nine of its 11 starters from a team that went 9-5-2 in the PSAA last season, but they will be joining the newly formed NYCAL this year. The league will include Trevor Day, Calhoun, LFNY, LREI and UNIS. Columbia brings back its leading goal scorer in sophomore Ella Rubin (14 goals, eight assists) and her twin sister Lucy will again be in net.
Sophomore Madison Rosegarten will continue to control the midfield with Carly West. Jessica Bonaventura will lean on an aggressive and improved defense that also includes Carly Doyle, Nichola Shackman, Lauren Laufer, Gabby Kahan and Isabelle Branco-Lo, who is back from an ACL injury. Elana Lado will see time at striker.
Packer Collegiate fell to Brearley in the AAIS final last season and returns one of the city’s best players in Villanova-bound center midfielder Shannon Rhodes. The four-sport star is coming off a breakout year with 16 goals and 19 assists. She could form a dynamic scoring attack with junior strikers Keegan Mendez and Sarah Miller. Anna Schwab will be in the stopper spot and freshman Chloe Wallack takes over at sweeper in front of second-year keeper Aliza Cohen.
St. Ann’s talented junior class is now all seniors and primed for one of its best seasons in the PSAA and AAIS. Top scorers return in senior center midfielders Jo Haller, who had 19 goals and 15 assist last year; Sarah Hills, back from a torn ACL; and junior Elizabeth Alexion. Junior forwards Chin Odim and Sally Rappaport are expected to take big steps forward.
Berkeley Carroll, which plays in the PSAA and AAIS, will be in a bit of a rebuilding mode with the graduation of star midfielder Phoebe Miller and goalkeeper Anna Saltman. More responsibility will fall on senior forward Gilda Gross, the team’s top goal scorer.
