Playing in Division II last season, the Westhampton Beach girls soccer team was forced to play some of the top teams in the county, including Class AA state finalist Smithtown West. But a shakeup across the county should bode well for the Hurricanes this season.
After competing in division play the past few seasons, the county decided to go back to a league-play format that will have teams of similar size play in one single league. The format is typically favored by the smaller East End programs and Westhampton Beach head coach Erika Habersaat thinks it could help her team rebound strongly and improve upon its 2-11-1 overall record from last year.
The Hurricanes are still a Class AA team, albeit by 32 student-athletes, and will compete in League VI along with Amityville, Comsewogue, Eastport-South Manor, Half Hollow Hills West, Hauppauge, Harborfields and Rocky Point.
“We were one of the smallest teams in the league, population-wise,” last year, she said. “This season, with league play, it’s still a tough schedule, but I’m hoping the games will be more competitive for us. We play each team twice, which gives us the opportunity to try and make adjustments and improvements.”
Of course, the ’Canes will miss a strong senior class it graduated after last season, one that included its postseason award-winners Sarah Gormley and Katie Baker, who both went on to play soccer in college, Division II and III, respectively. So Habersaat said the lineup will be relatively new, but the team has shown it does have some versatility with its current group of players early on in the season which allows for more of a rotation, she said.
“I think we are a deeper team this year,” she said.
Senior Mia Valenzuela is entering her fifth season on varsity and will plug right into central midfield where she’ll be joined by junior Khloe Hoda, who is entering her third season on varsity. Ava Failla, a junior, also has three years of varsity experience and will continue to be the team’s goalkeeper.
Senior defender Hailey Donahoe played just about every minute of every game last year, and she’ll anchor the defense, Habersaat said, along with junior Hailey Groth, who missed a good chunk of last season with an injury. Habersaat added that seniors Lana Salvaggio and Alana Dixon could play a few different roles on the field this year between both offense and defense.
Sophomore Angely Bardales was pulled up from the junior varsity toward the end of last season and is joined by her classmates Nicole Fink, Jasmine Garcia Barrientos and Elizabeth Sultan, who will hopefully all make an impact on the field this year, Habersaat said. And senior Halle Geller, who is known for her prowess in indoor/outdoor track, has joined the program this year and will bring in some speed.
“Given that there are a lot of newcomers and returners stepping into a more prominent role, we are looking to improve with each game,” Habersaat said. “This team has the potential to beat some really strong teams, and as always the playoffs are the goal.”
Westhampton Beach opened its season with a pair of nonleague games this week, starting with Center Moriches on Wednesday and then William Floyd on Thursday, September 5, at 4:30 p.m. The ’Canes will open up the league season on Saturday when it hosts rival ESM at 10 a.m.
Boys Aim To Improve
The Westhampton Beach boys soccer team struggled last season with a young team and a first-year varsity head coach in Randy Lein, who admitted that last year’s 1-12 campaign was rough. But with a number of players returning for their senior year, he thinks they can turn things around quickly.
“We had a young team, and we did not handle adversity very well. However, I do believe we’ve learned from it and grown as a team,” he said. “Nine of my starters from last year are returning and the talent on our bench has gotten deeper. We’ve been working all summer long to build team chemistry and avoid what we experienced last year.”
Lein said his top two returning players are his two captains, seniors Lincoln O’Connell and junior Charlie Schwenker. O’Connell is a five-year player who plays striker and was All-League last season. Schwenker will lead the defense.
Additional returning starters include senior midfielders Grady Ambrose, Brandon Enriquez and Josh Pincott, junior midfielder Josh McCarthy, senior defender Noe Perez and sophomore striker Anthony Sanchez, who was the team’s leading scorer last year and was Academic All-County to boot. Senior Matt Moran will start in goal, and senior Ben Stork and Jonathan Chamale fill out the rest of the starting 11.
“Our team has certainly improved, but our league has gotten more difficult as well, as a few teams have been shuffled around,” Lein said. “Time will tell if we’re truly up to the challenge this year.”
The boys will play in League VI, which is set up similarly as the girls only it also includes county semifinalist East Hampton. They jumped right into league play on Wednesday in a game at Comsewogue. They play at Amityville this Friday, September 6, at 5 p.m., and will play their first home game of the season this Monday, September 9, against Hauppauge at 4 p.m.
