Thursday, October 1, 2026
By this point in her coaching career, Judi Croutier has become a jigsaw puzzle master.
It helps, of course, that the South Side girls’ soccer coach has pieces that fit in numerous places.
“We have the pieces of the puzzle,” Croutier said. “We just have to figure out where they’re gonna work best for each opponent. That’s our job now. But we have a great core coming back with seven seniors.”
The Cyclones enter the season as defending county champions, defeating Garden City on penalty kicks to capture the Nassau Class AA title.
South Side’s season ended abruptly, though, with a 3-0 defeat to West Islip in the Long Island ‘AA’ championship game.
The goal for the returning Cyclones is to take that one step further and get off Long Island this fall.
“That’s a goal you always want, obviously, but it’s not something that’s spoken about daily,” Croutier said. “It’s one game at a time, but ultimately that’s always everybody's goal. We’ve got to lay the building blocks to get there. But that’s definitely a goal they’re going for.”
There was good reason not to look too far ahead, with a county final rematch against Garden City to open the season. The Cyclones claimed a 1-0 victory on Sept. 1, with Katori Martin scoring off a pass from Catherine Thielebeule.
In addition to a strong returning core of versatile players, Croutier welcomes Viv Haley back into the mix after missing her junior season with a knee injury. An All-State selection as a sophomore, Haley, who can play in the back as well as center midfield, is among the Cyclones’ leaders this year.
“Having her back in the mix is a great stepping-off point for us,” Croutier said. “She’s one of our captains, one of the leaders. Having her back, it is a good boost.
Joining Haley are co-captains Katori Martin, Natalie Cammalleri and Bobbie Creo.
Martin, who has started in various spots on the field since a freshman, and Creo, a College of the Holy Cross lacrosse commit, anchor the midfield, along with Madalena Suarez, who cracked the starting lineup late last season and into the playoffs.
Cammalleri is joined in the back by Mackenzie Dunphy, Mae Finora and Summer Stack, who will look to lock things down defensively in front of sophomore goalkeepers Valentina Marquardt and Casey Maier, who are battling for the starting role vacated by the graduated Abby Gruner.
Marquardt made seven saves in the shutout win over Garden City.
In the attacking third, Croutier is leaning on Maeve Martin, Juliet Diorio and Sophia Corvetti to play starring roles.
“Right now I would say that the teamwork they’re doing so far together, and then the core, we’re going to work through it, we have ideas of what we think, but again, until we step on the field and get battle-tested, a lot of that’s hard to say,” Croutier said. “But I would say that they have the drive, the desire, we have the skill, and then it’s just putting the right pieces on the field together in the right spot.”
