Season Preview: Pleasantville HS Girls Soccer

Last year 's varsity girls soccer team enjoyed an 8-7-1 record in a season that saw it earn a berth in the Section 1 Class B tournament where it lost to Valhalla 2-0 in the opening round

Pleasantville will open this season in the Mount Pleasant Cup at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 7 on the road against Westlake. Also in the tournament are Valhalla and Briarcliff.

The Panthers will then travel to Fox Lane at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 9 before playing either in the consolation (1:30) or championship game (5:30) of the cup on Sept. 10.

“We are really hoping that we can get into the finals again,” Pleasantville fifth-year Coach Tom Micucci said. “Briarcliff is also in the tournament, which is obviously in our league as well. We played them in the past and they have been pretty much untouchable.”

“They graduated a lot of players though,” Micucci said. “If we win our game and if Briarcliff wins its game, we would see them in the finals and to play our cross-town rivals in that game would be a big boost to our program.”

One reason why the program is in such good hands is the play of senior fullback Patricia Garibaldi.

“She is quick to the ball, she has great field vision,” Micucci said. “She distributes the ball and knows the game very, very well. She plays outside the high-school season on a club team.”

Garibaldi said what helps this year’s Panther squad is that all the players on the team are very familiar with one another.

“We all have been playing together for awhile,” Garibaldi said. “We really support each other and know how each other plays so we really appreciate everybody’s individual skills. We work hard to figure out how we can combine everybody’s skill to make it best work for the team.”

Another key senior for Pleasantville is midfielder Alana Engelbrecht.

“Alana is also a smart, quick player who gets through the middle and distributes the ball and attacks the goal very well,” Micucci said. “She is a big offensive threat for us.”

Sophomore left wing Maria Howe will give the Panthers someone who is quick up the sideline.

“She crosses the ball very well,” Micucci said. “She is someone that puts the ball in the center for us and gives us opportunities to score.”

Also looking to score for the Panthers will be sophomore right wing Julia Eisenberg.

“Her game is very similar to Maria’s, just that one plays right and one plays left wing,” Micucci said. “She has really good footwork with the ball also.”

As a team, Pleasantville is a speedy, quick squad according to its coach.

“We have a lot of players like I said that have been playing a lot of years together,” Micucci said. “If we stay healthy and focus on keeping the ball under control and keep possession, we should be able to be a serious contender.”

If they are to be a contender, the Panthers will have to be road warriors since only five of their 16 games will be at home.

Pleasantville’s first home game isn’t until 4:30 p.m. Sept. 15 when it hosts Rye Neck.

“It’s nice to be home but then again being on the road you get the kids on the bus, focused, get to the game and start right up,” Micucci said. “I don’t know if it really matters all that much either way. The teams we play on the road have pretty good fields now so field conditions don’t vary as much like they use to be. There are a lot more teams with turf now.”