South Fork's Field Hockey, Soccer, Volleyball Teams Gear Up For The Upcoming Fall Season

The East Hampton boys volleyball team only got through six games (1-5) last season before their season was called due to COVID-19 protocols. Coupled with the fact that the program hasn’t had a middle school team in quite some time, the varsity roster only has 11 players to start the season and head coach Josh Brussell feels like the program is basically starting from scratch.

All that being said, he stopped short of calling it a rebuilding year.

“They have the potential to do really well, they just have to play four times harder and face six times as much odds because of all of the obstacles they have facing them,” Brussell said of his players. “All I ask is that we try our hardest, do what we can, and if all the stars line up correctly, we can have a great season. If it doesn’t, it could be a little painful, but that doesn’t matter too much because it’s a young team and what’s important is that they’ll the experience they need either way. It’s a win-win situation because no one expects us to do much.”

In that sense, the Bonackers were seeded 14th out of 23 teams overall in Suffolk County. Returning players include junior setter Alex Lombardo, senior opposite setter Mark Daniels, and senior outside hitters Andrew Dimopoulos and Declan Bistrian. Also returning are junior Hunter Eberhart, sophomore Cashus Muse and junior libero Collin Villante.

As previously mentioned, the team is a bit shorthanded at the moment. Brussell said he likes to keep 14 to 16 players on a roster, but the good news is that the JV has good numbers with about 17 players on that roster. Another bit of good news is that almost every player on the team stands over 6 feet tall.

East Hampton starts its season this Thursday, September 2, at home against Center Moriches at 4 p.m. and will not have another game until a week later on September 9, when it hosts Smithtown West at 4:30 p.m.

Information on the girls volleyball team was not provided.

After missing the playoffs by a single victory last season (6-8 League VI) — the first time in quite some time that they’ve missed out on the postseason — the Whalers are excited to go into the season with no COVID restrictions and to welcome back spectators.

“After last year with the pandemic and COVID, everybody was really nervous, including me, so this year we’re really excited to be back in the gym,” longtime head coach Donna Fischer said. “The girls are pumped. Their motto this season is ‘To The Top.’ They want to take it to the top.”

Gylia “Gigi” Dryden and Ngelika Tobias-Narvaez were the only two seniors to graduate after last season, so the team’s core is still largely intact. That includes senior outside hitters Angela Gardella and Ayanna El, junior outside hitter Grace Flanagan, junior opposite Finn Goodale and junior libero Ashley Weatherwax. Seniors Ava Crocitto (setter), Emma Ambrose (outside) and Sophie Cassone (defensive specialist) all return as well. Junior outside Sadie Lattanzio and sophomores Helena Kohlhoff, Lyra Aubrey and Khalila Martin round out the roster.

League VI this season will consist of mostly fellow Class C teams. Babylon, Greenport/Southold, Mattituck and Port Jefferson are all in the league with Pierson along with ‘D’ schools Ross and Shelter Island.

The Whalers got some practice time last week in Bridgehampton’s brand new air-conditioned gym and Fischer said at least one game — September 15 against Greenport/Southold — is tentatively scheduled to played in Bridgehampton.

Pierson starts its season this Friday, September 3, at home against Mattituck at 6:15 p.m. and will play on Shelter Island a week later on September 10 at 5:45 p.m.

The Mariners went winless in 12 games last season, but second-year head coach Hilary Rewinski is confident that her team can break through into the win column this fall.

“We came so close in a few games. We played to five games in a few of them and went out there and gave it our all,” she said. “This year, we’re playing all new teams. We’re hoping that it gives us a fresh look on the season.”

Southampton will play in League V with powerhouses Bayport/Blue Point and Elwood/John Glenn, but the Mariners should be competitive with Center Moriches, Hampton Bays and Shoreham/Wading River.

The Mariners will be led by four seniors in back row player Aliza Proctor, third-year varsity player and middle Summer Stelling, outside hitter Giovana Pereira and setter Leilani Robinson. Junior Paige Garvin is entering her third year on varsity and Rewinski said she is stepping up to be the team’s libero this season.

Southampton doesn’t start its season until September 13, when it hosts Glenn at 4:30 p.m.

The Southampton field hockey team finished ninth out of 14 teams in Division II last season with a 5-8 record. Head coach Jackie Trelease hopes with a strong returning core her team can improve upon that this fall.

Lauren Halsey (forward), Lucy Wesnofske (midfield) and Maggie Gabrielle (midfield) were chosen as the team’s three senior captains. Along with Maggie’s two sisters, Claire (defense/midfield) and Bridget Gabrielle, who are also seniors, and third-year starting goalie Chloe Phillips, Trelease is high on those six seniors, especially Phillips.

“I’m looking to really take her game up another notch and be a leader on the field using her skills and her voice to anchor our defense and give our offense confidence knowing she has their back in the cage. We have all of our role players returning so everyone has to step up.”

Junior Kyla Eleazer (defense), senior Hailey Marcincuk (midfield) and senior Olivia Masone (forward) also return.

“They are all kids who had to get through some growing pains during our spring season, who I am seeing a lot of improvement from and I’m hoping they continue to improve and help the team,” Trelease said.

Southampton’s first game was this past Wednesday against Babylon and will play at Rocky Point this Friday, September 3, at 4:30 p.m.

After finishing 1-10 in the pandemic-shortened season last spring, Hampton Bays Field Hockey head coach Kaitlin Cooper and her Baymen are pumped and ready for the upcoming season.

“Last season was a tough season, but we were just excited to be out on the field as a team,” she said. “Although we only had one win, it was a memorable one that led to one-v-one shootout in double overtime in our season opener. The good start helped us through a unique and challenging season.”

Cooper has four seniors who she’s excited to see, including Abril Montes-Vasquez (attack), Bryona Hayes (midfield), Abby Hoffman (goalie) and Angie Chinchilima (attack). Montes-Vasquez won the team’s Unsung Hero Award last year. She gives a 100 percent on the field, Cooper sad, and has been improving her skills significantly since last season. The Baymen call Hayes “Wheels” because she can make it from one end of the field to the other in seconds. Hoffman has been the team’s goalie over the past several seasons and “has great instincts and can read players and shots very well,” according to Cooper. And Chinchilima “dominates the right side.”

Cooper is high on a pair of newcomers in senior Bella Pettas, who is new to the sport, but Cooper likes her athleticism, and freshman Julianne Palmeri, who she said has raw talent and is extremely coachable.

Cooper said her goal for the team is for it to “get better and better everyday and have more shots on goal in each game.”

The Baymen started the season on Wednesday against Shoreham/Wading River and will host Babylon this Friday, September 3, at 4:30 p.m.

After losing 10 players to graduation at the end of last season, then recently finding out that two of its top players in Justin Jimenez and Emmanuel Lopez would also not be returning this season, the Hampton Bays boys soccer team could be seen as starting from behind before the season even begins.

And not all news was bad, in fact, the news on Jimenez and Lopez was quite positive. Jimenez, who was set to enter his fourth season on varsity this fall as a senior, made the under-18 academy team for Los Guerreros Del Sur, which plays at the top level of the Primera Division in Costa Rica. And Lopez, who was just a freshman last season, has been given an opportunity to be a part of Barca Academy’s residency program in Arizona, where he’ll play in Major League Soccer’s Next program next season.

But Baymen head coach Scott Garafola is confident that with a strong senior class his team can bounce back from its 2-7-1 season this past spring. Seniors Juan Alape, Juan Cardona (goalie) and John Pacheco all return, as does sophomore Alex Posada. With Cardona entrenched as the team’s starting goalie, Garafola said Alape, Pacheco and Posada may need to move around from time to time depending on the team’s needs from game to game, which he likes having the option to do.

Hampton Bays, which will compete in League VI this season, starts at Shoreham/Wading River this Thursday, September 2, at 4 p.m. and will host Mount Sinai September 10 at 4:30 p.m.

Information on the Hampton Bays girls soccer team was not provided.

There may have been no team hit harder by the COVID pandemic than the Westhampton Beach boys soccer team, which was cruising through its season before a forced quarantine decimated the team in the second half of the season. The result was nearly 90 percent of the team or so was unavailable for a playoff game at Elwood/John Glenn, which the team subsequently lost, having to play the game with almost all JV players.

It was a gut-wrenching way to end the season for 11 seniors who graduated this past June, but for many of the returning seniors, they’re looking to do right by them, which is why the team’s motto coming into this season is “unfinished business.”

Leading the way will be four-year varsity player Andre Insalaco, who was tied for third place in the county in scoring, and that was after missing a game due to contact tracing and not being able to play in the team’s playoff game. Fellow seniors Loris Von Vlodrop (midfield), Aidan Kellachan (defense), Liam McMunn (defense), Michael Griffin (midfield) and Alessandro Volpe (goalie) all return as well. Juniors Kade Murphree (midfield) and Ethan Vogt (midfield) also return as does Lincoln O’Connell, who played last season on varsity as an eighth-grader.

Competing in League IV this season, the ’Canes start with a pair of back-to-back non-league games, having played at Glenn on Wednesday and then at East Hampton this Thursday, September 2, at 5 p.m. They will host Deer Park in their first home game this Saturday at 10 a.m.

Like their male counterparts, the Westhampton Beach girls soccer team also graduated 11 players from last year’s team that finished 2-10 in what was arguably the most competitive league in the county. Many of the teams in League V not only qualified for the playoffs, but advanced beyond the first round, where eventually a pair of teams from the league faced one another in the county championship. The good news is that the county put girls soccer back into a power-ranked division system this season, which should make for a more balanced schedule.

Fifth-year varsity player and senior Trinity Valenzuela headlines the ’Canes heading into this season. She’ll play central midfield. Returning senior Olivia Rongo will play on the outside. Junior Amanda Shannon will anchor the defense, while sophomore Sarah Gormley will play central mid after starting every game as a freshman last season up top. Freshman Mia Valenzuela got a year of varsity experience under her belt last season and will be a part of the starting core, head coach Erika Habersaat said.

Westhampton Beach started the season this past Monday against Rocky Point and will host Amityville this Thursday, September 2, at 4:30 p.m.