Thursday, October 1, 2026
After an eighth straight trip to the Nassau County semifinals a year ago, the MacArthur girls soccer club opens its campaign with continued winning aspirations.
Playing in Conference AAA/AA/1, the Generals had an overall record of 5-8-4 last season including a conference record of 2-8-2. Then, they went on a nice postseason run that ended with a loss to Southside in penalty kicks.
This season, MacArthur has high hopes, but it will need to put the ball in the back of the net with more regularity.
“That’s been our issue the last couple of years,” Generals coach Steve Costello said. “We just haven’t generated enough offense.”
MacArthur opened its season on Sept. 1 with a 1-0 win over Calhoun. With nine returning starters, the Generals will field a veteran team that knows what it takes to win games.
Senior Alexa Coppola is a central defensive midfielder who is back for her fourth varsity season. She is an outstanding defensive-minded player who also enjoys tremendous success taking corner kicks.
“She led our team last year with 6 assists and I think 5 of them were on corners,” Costello said. “She controls the field and is great on the ball.”
Another four-year starter is senior outside back Gianna Winkler, a defensive-minded player who converted from center back.
“She’s super-skilled on the ball,” Costello said. “She’s a great decision maker and she has great service when she passes.”
The Generals feature a player who is not only great at futbol (soccer) but also football. Senior striker Gina Iannuzzi returns for her fourth year as a varsity starter. MacArthur’s leading scorer the last two years tallied the Generals’ first goal of 2026 in their season-opening win over Calhoun.
She is also a star quarterback on MacArthur’s flag football team.
“She’s a great athlete,” Costello said. “She’s fast and tough. She moves all over the field she’ll score a ton of goals off of headers.”
While MacArthur is in search of more scoring, they are rock-solid on the back end.
Junior goalkeeper Lyla Curtin was an All-County Honorable Mention selection in 2025 as a sophomore and had shutouts against county champions Oceanside and Garden City.
The defense is also anchored bey senior center backs Katelynn Paulich, an All-Conference selection last year, and Abby Zazulka.
In the midfield, sophomore Emily Squicciarini and senior Ava Kelly will play huge roles. “(Squicciarini) is everywhere,” Costello said. “She has defensive and offensive responsibilities. She’s a really talented kid.”
“(Kelly has) a powerful shot, but her best attribute is that she’s a tremendous distributor of the ball, one of the best I’ve seen.”
Solid on the back end, MacArthur looks to exceed what it did last year but in order to do so, it will have to find some additional scoring. If the Generals do, the rest of the teams in Conference AAA/AA/1 will have to take notice.
