South Side athletes sign letters of intent

Posted

Seven South Side student-athletes, including five who missed playing their respective sport for the high school teams in the spring of 2020 due to the pandemic, inked their national letters of intent to compete at the next level and begin a new chapter in their lives.
Boys’ lacrosse standouts TJ Sheehan (University of Denver), John Jude Considine (Hobart College) and Thomas Kelly (Binghamton University), girls’ lacrosse stars EllaGrace Delmond (Quinnipiac University) and Sydney Rathjen (Brown University), girls’ volleyball leader Faith LaMacchia (Seton Hall University) and girls’ soccer club player Jillian Shimkin (Penn State University) gathered at SSHS for a signing ceremony Nov. 18.
Sheehan, Considine and Kelly all play travel lacrosse for Icon and will be keys to the Cyclones’ attack as third-year varsity performers.
Sheehan broke out in 2019 with 38 goals and 14 assists as a sophomore attack. He was Honorable Mention All-County. “TJ is a crafty player who uses his size well and is a quarterback behind the cage,” South Side coach Steve DiPietro said.
Considine, the football team’s quarterback, played midfield two years ago but will move to his natural position of attack for his final season of high school lacrosse. “He has a dangerous shot and excellent vision,” DiPietro said.

Kelly, a midfielder who earned All-Conference honors in 2019 after tallying 13 goals and 10 assists, is a fearless dodger who brings a physical style.
Like Sheehan, Considine and Kelly, Delmond and Rathjen also missed playing for the Cyclones in the spring. Both Delmond and Rathjen played varsity as freshman, thrived as sophomores in 2019, and compete at the club level.
Delmond is a midfielder described by coach Rob Devlin as a “playmaker and grinder who’s a great find for Quinnipiac.” Delmond earned All-County honors as a sophomore and All-Conference honors as a freshman, and has posted back-to-back 50-point seasons. “She’s strong and fast and runs the length of the field,” Devlin said.
Rathjen, a lefty attack wing and a three-sport athlete, had 48 points, including 26 goals, in 2019, garnering Honorable Mention All-County, and 40 points as a freshman All-Conference selection. “Sydney is 6-foot plus and does a nice job on draw controls too,” Devlin said. “She’s pretty quick and likes to race across the top of the arch.” 
LaMacchia has enjoyed great success from both team and individual standpoints in her first three seasons with the Cyclones’ volleyball program under coach Cheryl Scalice. “Faith is one of the hardest-working athletes I’ve ever coached,” Scalice said. “I’ve coached her for six years. She knew she wanted to go D-1 since she first picked up a volleyball. She’s never idle and practices her skills constantly.”
LaMacchia will be a fourth-year starting setter with a pair of Nassau County titles and one Long Island championship under her belt. Last year, she led South Side in assists and ranked second in digs on the way to becoming an All-County selection. “Her attitude and leadership have never been less than stellar,” Scalice noted.
Shimkin, who plays for New York Soccer Club as well as the U.S. U17 Women’s National Team, was planning to wear a South Side uniform for the first time this fall, however the season was postponed until March. An attacking midfielder, Shimkin is graduating in January and headed to Penn State early.