By:Jennifer Marino
This year the soccer team at Sacred Heart Academy was like a Rockville Centre Soccer Club all-star lineup. Out of 22 players, 10 were from Rockville Centre. The team went undefeated for the season and not only won the Nassau/Suffolk County championship, but also went on to win the state championship on Saturday, Nov. 13 against Nardin High School in Buffalo.
Not only are 10 of the players from Rockville Centre, but the coaches, Chris Chruma and Bobby Speck, whose daughters are on the team, are also from the village as is Sacred Heart-s athletic director Mike Goetz.
It was an honor to be with them on the field, said Goetz, adding that the whole team was a special bunch of girls.
The girls, Emily Boyce, Maureen Goetz, Tricia Graustein, Caitlyn Gunyan, Jenna Luvin, Kerri McGovern, Jackie Russo, Amy Speck, Lizzy Speck and Sarah Watterson all grew up in the Rockville Centre Soccer Club. Soccer Club official Peter Skelos has followed the girls- careers and attended games throughout the season, according to Athletic Director Goetz. Gunyan, Lizzy Speck and Watterson were the team captains.
Sacred Heart beat St. Anthony-s High School in the Nassau/Suffolk Championship game, the same school they lost to in that championship for the past three years. The team made it to the states in 2000, but lost. The last time they won the state championship was in 1999. The team even beat South Side High School earlier this year.
On the way home from upstate, many parents were together on the same Jet Blue flight. The captain came on the loudspeaker and congratulated the team. That was when it really hit everyone and the parents started to tear up according to Goetz, whose daughter, Maureen, is on the team.
Said Goetz, The girls are champions on and off the field.
Comments on this story? jmarino@liherald.com or (516)569-4000, ext.221
