Westhampton Beach Shuts Out East Hampton/Pierson In A Game Of Rebuilding Girls Soccer Programs

The East Hampton/Pierson and Westhampton Beach girls soccer team met in East Hampton on Wednesday in a matchup between two programs that find themselves in similar situations.

East Hampton, after coming close to clinching a playoff berth three years ago, graduated all of its starters from that team and have since been rebuilding. By the same token, Westhampton Beach has been hit hard by graduation the past two seasons and is rebuilding its program as well but still has a few strong players who led the Hurricanes to the 8-0 victory.

Seven different players scored for Westhampton Beach with sophomore Sarah Gormley leading the way with a pair of goals, one in each half. Senior co-captain Trinity Valenzuela, junior co-captain Amanda Shannon, freshman Mia Valenzuela, sophomore Katie Baker and seniors Jessica Dunn and Lily Berchin each found the back of the net also.

The final score was a bit deceiving: The Hurricanes (3-3 Division II, 3-4 overall) only held a 2-0 lead at halftime, the second goal coming within the final minutes of the half that went through the hands of East Hampton’s backup goalie after the starter had left the game due to injury. Westhampton Beach seemed to figure things out offensively in the second half.

“Honestly, we just started connecting more passes together, and moving off the ball too,” said Trinity Valenzuela, who scored that second goal of the first half. “When you’re making passes to feet and moving off the ball, they just start to connect the dots. And obviously finishing towards the end.

“I think we just needed to take more shots and place them better and finish our opportunities more often,” Shannon, another goal scorer, added.

East Hampton head coach Cara Nelson said she liked what she saw from her team in the first half and told her players at halftime that a 2-0 deficit was not hard to overcome. But things started to go downhill fast after Westhampton Beach scored its fourth goal with just under 17 minutes remaining in the game.

“When we look at the first 40 minutes of the game, there was a lot there that we can look at and be proud of,” she said. “We take that and we talk about what we did well, and then we look at everything else that happened out on that field and we figure out what we can do to be the best team out there the next day going forward. We don’t look at these games behind us, we don’t look at the score. It’s what did we do well? What do we need to improve as a team? And step-by-step, day-by-day we’re building a program and it takes time.”

While the Bonackers (1-5 Division II) may have lost some talent over the years, what bodes well for them is that numbers are at an all-time high, with 24 girls on varsity and 26 on junior varsity — the most the program has ever seen, Nelson said. Still, it’s going to take some time to get the team going on the right path.

“We are young, we are very new to the sport, so we are working on developing and growing as a team, and every day we are getting better, regardless of what the scoreboard says,” Nelson explained. “At the end of these games, the girls are working together, they’re encouraging each other, they're showing up every day with their heads held high, they’re leaving everything they have out on the field. And every day we make it a goal to be one step better than we were the day before. Eventually, in time — and it may not be this year, it may not be next year — but in time the wins will come and the growth will happen.”

The ’Canes have a few seniors that their underclassmen can look up to, especially in five-year varsity player Trinity Valenzuela, who said she’s enjoying her final season on the team despite having to go through some growing pains with her teammates.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “Throughout the years you get to play with so many different people and the group of girls that we have now, everyone is great. Everyone puts all their effort in, really works hard, listens, and they’re great people so I’m happy to be here.”

Shannon said the rest of the team is trying to soak up everything they can from Trinity.

“Trinity has always been a leader, not only by her voice but by example,” she said. “Trinity definitely sets a great example for us all to follow.”