Fall 2011 Preview: Division Girls Soccer

When he looks back on last year's regular season, Division Avenue head coach Steve Kissane laments a season that could have been bigger.

"I thought we should’ve won [the state title], but we choked," he said. "It happens."

The 2010 team went undefeated in the regular season, which landed them a second seed in the county playoffs. But a loss in their opening game to Jericho, a team they beat twice in the regular season, sent them home, a game that served as a learning experience for the team.

"It taught us that we have to take every team seriously," said senior Joanna Capitelli. "We'll take each game step-by-step and not think too far ahead."

This year's team will get more of a challenge in the regular season, as Nassau County's divisions were re-grouped by ability (instead of school size). There will be no more lopsided victories for Division, but they will automatically get a top six seed in this year's playoffs.

At first, Kissane was unsure what to make of the shift. But once he found out his team was on board, he was fine with it.

"I wasn’t sure if I was going to," he said. "But then you ask the girls, and they like the ability groupings better anyway because they’re playing tougher games. You go and play Westbury and it’s 10-1. That doesn’t help Westbury and that doesn’t help us."

“We won’t have games where it’ll be super-easy and then we’ll go into the next game thinking it’ll be as easy as the last one,” said senior Susan Ballantyne. “We’ll go hardcore each game.”

"More competition is better," said senior Maggie Carew. "We'll be better prepared."

Six of the starters from last year's team return this season. Included in that list is Fitzpatrick and Capitelli, who were All-County midfielders last season. They also return Carew, an All-County central midfielder in 2009, and Ballantyne, who lead the league in scoring last season. 

The team will run a 4-4-2 formation that the coach considers solid at every position. He raved about his sweeper, Alexa Schneider, who he called "one of the best kids in the conference." ("We know that when the ball gets back there, she's going to get it out," said Ballantyne. "We don't need to worry about it.") He's starting an eighth-grader, Sara Pedroza, alongside Ballantyne at attack. (She scored two goals in her first scrimmage.)

With that talent, he expects big things. But he's also confident that the team is hungry for the success it missed out on a year ago.

"Krista Fitzpatrick said that she thinks this year’s team is better than last year’s team," he said. "I said that we’ll know that if we go deeper in the playoffs. She said ‘We’ll definitely go deeper.’”