Wildcats defeat Kings Park in early season victory, 2-0

A year removed from the season winning the Class A Suffolk County championship and graduating 10 key seniors, the Shoreham-Wading River girls soccer team, for all intents and purposes, should be in rebuilding mode. Tuesday’s result over Kings Park proved otherwise.

The Wildcats came into Kings Park High School and defeated Kings Park — who was ranked second in the power rankings coming into the day — by the score of 2-0.

With GraceAnn Leonard (19 goals), Ava Gengler (13 Goals), Abigail Beran (13 goals) and Kya Condon (12 goals) now gone to graduation, the biggest question was who was going to take on the scoring load. Against Kings Park, that was answered in the form of freshman Shealyn Varbero and sophomore Mia Mangano, who both scored in the second half. Mangano has scored a team-high 5 goals thus far for the Wildcats.

Shoreham-Wading River (4-1 Division III, 4-2-1 overall) had a wakeup call against Sayville in the beginning of the season losing 4-1 but since then it’s been smooth sailing.

“We have a lot of younger girls stepping up and taking big roles,” SWR head coach Adrian Gilmore said. “Against Sayville early in the season you’re still trying to figure things out. We just had to find our groove.”

“Historically Shoreham has been very good,” Gilmore said. “I’ve been coaching here since 2012 and we made the playoffs every year. We’ve won the league and won a bunch of county titles. I think it’s expected that they win. So when that first game doesn’t go as expected, emotions run high of course but with the quality we have in the program, it was just a matter of time before we settled in.”

Midfield play was dominant throughout the match with Bella Sweet and Olivia Pesso controlling possession moving forward and tracking back to regain possession when needed. Sweet, a veteran senior, showed poise and created a multitude of opportunities for the Wildcats. Pesso, a sophomore, looked just as poised.

“It’s funny this is actually Pesso’s first year playing soccer for the school,” Gilmore said. “She’s always done cross country and hasn’t played since middle school but she’s worked her way into a starting role which is a huge benefit for us.”

“It all starts with our midfield play,” Sweet added. “If we can find a way to keep possession away from our opponents, it gives us more opportunity to score. I think it’s one of our strong points.”

Led by All-State defender and captain Grace Hillis, the defense only allowed two threatening shots on goal the entire game against Kings Park. Between Hillis and Mia Gengler manning the central defense, there was rarely any space to maneuver. In the two shots that did get through, goalkeeper Morgan Lesiewicz was a brick wall, catching the shot with ease.

“We pride ourselves on our defensive intensity,” Hillis said. “We knew we had a tough team today in Kings Park and we came in with the mentality that we had to win it.”

“We’re definitely very strong defensively and our goalie is very clutch,” Gilmore said. “Hillis anchors it all. Even when you think the ball is going to sneak through, she finds it and does a great job cleaning it up. She’s fierce out there.”

With the win over Kings Park, that marks three wins in a row for the Wildcats as they head into another very tough opponent in Center Moriches on Thursday. Center Moriches has posted a 5-0-1 overall record this season so to continue moving up the standings, a win on Thursday is crucial.

“If you’re going to win, you’re going to have to score,” Gilmore said. “We have a thermometer that we fill in every game with the goals scored. Our goal is 65 this season. We feel like if we can score 65 goals this season, we should get back in that Suffolk County championship and Center Moriches is our next challenge. We’re going to need to score a bunch.”