The Massapequa girls’ soccer team reached the Nassau Class AAA final last year, losing in double overtime to Oceanside.
But it was a down year for the Chiefs, who fielded a young team and finished 6-10-2 overall.
Such is the case for a program that has won 18 county titles, 11 Long Island championships, and seven New York State crowns in the last 22 years.
The expectation is excellence.
“Last year was probably the biggest struggle we’ve had in a long time,” Massapequa coach Bruce Stegner said. “And I think this year, some of those players are a year older now, and we’ve got some new players that have joined the club, and I think it’s going to make a big difference.”
There’s a strong leadership core this year of players who have been on varsity, in big roles, for four years.
Carly Schuler, who was a junior captain last year, is a St. John’s University commit who battled injuries last fall. But she’s back healthy and should be very impactful in midfield and up front.
Olivia Trojanowski, another four-year player, is headed to Seton Hall, and she’ll be relied upon to provide a punch in the attack.
“She’s really great at striking the ball with both feet,” Stegner said. “She’s strong up top and pretty good on the ball.”
And in goal is Reese Reustle, a senior committed to Division I Stonehill.
“She’s just very dominant in the box, really good hands, physical, quick, does all those things well, good distribution as well, so she’s the full package,” Stegner said.
Anchoring the defensive midfield will be junior Julianna Domingo, a tenacious ball-winner who has a great work rate and is a good distributor.
Six players will likely see time in the back four, including senior center back Hayden Murphy, who is expected to return in October from an ACL injury.
Joining Murphy are seniors Abby Stapleton and Grace Hoffman, juniors Natalie Byrns and Ava Primavera, and sophomore Madelyn Ferguson, whose twin sister Emma has impressed in the preseason with a change in position from last fall.
“She’s going to be really strong on the ball, great at receiving balls, keeping possession, turning, great energy, great speed,” Stegner said. “Last year, we tried to get her playing time in the back and play some of the midfield, and it was kind of new for her. It didn’t really work out as we’d hoped, but she’s really showing up front to a raised level this year.”
Juniors Olivia Morgan and Olivia LoGiudice are expected to be impactful in wide positions in the midfield, and Skylar Negron, the first eighth grader on varsity in more than 15 years, will see valuable minutes in the midfield for a Massapequa team looking to play deep into the fall this year.
“We should go to challenge for the conference title,” Stegner said. “And hopefully we could do things in the playoffs that we haven’t done in the last few years.”
