Lady Cyclones banking on experience

The Lady Cyclones are already off to a strong start this season, with one win and a tie under their belts, even though they lost eight girls this season.

The Lady Cyclones, currently the reigning conference champs, have a younger team this year — eight seniors from last year’s team have left, and there are only five new seniors to replace them. However, the Cyclones still have a wealth of experience to draw on.

“We’re feeling pretty good because we are young,” said Coach Shannon McEntee. “We lost eight girls last season, but most of the starters are returning players.”

The only loss for the Lady Cyclones so far was a non-league game they played on Labor Day weekend against the state championship team from Ohio. The Lady Cyclones lost 3-1, part of which McEntee attributes to the fact that the Ohio team started school earlier and had a month more of practice and games under their belts.

In addition to the five seniors, this year’s team has a dozen juniors, three sophomores and five freshmen.

“They might be sophomores or juniors, but they’re sophomores or juniors that got significant time on the field in the past,” McEntee said. “Whereas other teams might have younger girls, but it’s the first time they’re playing.”

And that wealth of experience shows. Junior Kayla Klarides, the team’s keeper, was also the starting keeper last year. In the two league games the team has played, she’s stopped more than 30 shots on goal and hasn’t let any through.

Katherine Parker is anchoring the team’s defense as the only returning player to the position. “The other three [defenders] are new to the starting lineup,” said McEntee. “So we’re still working out some kinks.”

The team also has strong players in midfielder Ally Diez, one of the team captains, and forward Alex McNicholas.

There are also two freshman in the starting lineup. One of them, Alex Chruma, already has a goal to her name.

“She’s got great feet,” said McEntee. “I think she’s going to be a big player for us in the future. There’s a couple of younger girls, whether they’re freshman or sophomores, that are going to be helpful when that big junior class leaves.”

The Lady Cyclones are going up against Massapequa next, another top-ranked team. They’re playing at Massapequa on Sept. 24.