Sunday, November 9, 2025
Undefeated Roosevelt took home the Conference AAA/AA5 girls’ soccer banner, but it was still a banner year for Uniondale.
“It was a really good season,” Knights coach Kevin Daly said. “We only ended up having one defeat, we lost to Roosevelt in a really close game. For us, in terms of losing only one game all season, I think that’s about as good as we’ve ever done.”
The focus for Uniondale (7-1-6) was a strong defense, letting that feed the rest of the pitch.
“I think that was probably the strongest part of our game,” he confirmed, with senior Kimberly Calderon as one of the main defensive anchors. “She was almost like the last man in the back, she played like a sweeper almost, a bit of an old style of play but she did really well. She was always covering people and she’s really an intelligent soccer player.”
Along with her in the back line were Sarah Chavez and Emily Ramos. Daly named Chavez as one of the most improved players this year, noting her aggressive style of play, which complimented Ramos as she was the center of the defense.
“Really like a pillar of strength at the back,” Daly said. “She also was able to carry the ball out every now and again from our defense, make a good connecting pass to the midfield.”
The reason that the defense was so solid because of a sleeper agent like Kimberly Hernandez, who went from looking like a quiet and lowkey person to an aggressive defender in a split second, shocking both her coaches and teammates alike. Daly said that she turned out to be the biggest surprise of the year, and for the better.
“She was a ninth grader who played a little bit last year,” he detailed. “She was absolutely fantastic, very aggressive, and she really surprised everyone this year, in a good way. She stepped up and became a really good defender this year.”
All of them stood in front of sophomore keeper Ashley Bonilla, who Daly said did a really good job this year between the pipes.
The midfielders were as follows: co-captain Maydelin Hernandez, Brianna Marquez, Karla Molina, senior co-captain Angie Jamie and Jasmine Flores.
To give the full picture of the scope of the talent on Uniondale, first two players accounted for 10 of the teams goals, and Molina was described as “probably the most naturally talented soccer player” by her coach. Jamie was listed as a very technical player who, despite having limited playing time, always had a big splash on the pitch when she did touch it, as evidenced by a few of her own goals this season. Flores stood out as a defensive-midfielder to the coaching staff, as a tall but firm presence in the neutral zone who always opted to cover her teammates as opposed to join them on the attack.
Technical aspects aside, the off-the-pitch chemistry was one of the key ingredients to Uniondale according to Daly.
“We’ve had a really good year in terms of all the girls getting along,” he explained. “This year it’s been brilliant. I do believe that the cohesiveness of the team did contribute to the girls doing very well.”
One of the things that Daly does want to adjust is how soon his players come back to practice for next season, with his mind already there now that Uniondale can’t go to playoffs.
“I think this year we’ll probably start a little bit earlier, have a few captain’s practices and work on a little bit more fitness in the beginning,” he said. “The girls might not want to hear that but that’s alright.”
