St. Joseph Hill and coach Tom Siller will try to reclaim the CHSAA Archdiocesan title. (Lauren Marsh)
The feeling is etched forever in the St. Joseph Hill players’ minds.
It was one of defeat and unfilled expectations they experienced leaving the field after being upset by Notre Dame Academy in the CHSAA Archdiocesan girls soccer semifinals. It denied them a second straight crown and trip to the CHSAA state semifinals following an undefeated regular season.
“Colleen [Kane] our captain told us never to forget that felling,” senior forward Victoria Chirico said. “Whenever I start a game I always think of that game and how depressing it was and then I put 100 percent into my game.”
Coach Tom Siller has used it a point of motivation for this group, interjecting a reminder when their intensity wanes. It hits home because the Hilltoppers lost just two players from that squad and return five seniors and 11 juniors all set on putting that memory behind them and creating betters ones.
“Every player on this team feels they underperformed last year at the end of the season,” Siller said. “Realizing that is a sign of maturity of the team.
Senior forward Gianna Smith, one of the city’s top strikers, didn’t get a chance to perform at her highest level last season. There was a question of whether she would be able to play at all with a leg injury. She returned, played sparingly early, but said she never fully regained her confidence. Smith is fully healthy now and looked like her old, speedy and skilled self in a scrimmage Wednesday against defending PSAL champion Beacon. She and Chirico make for a powerful scoring tandem up top.
“She has her legs,” Siller said of Smith. “She has a frivolity in her play that I enjoy. She leads the team with her energy. That energy is infectious.”
His granddaughter Meghan Siller will see some time at midfield and forward. Midfield, like last season, will be a strength, with Stephanie Quinn, Jennifer Cosenza and Kristina Buccellato returning. The coach hasn’t announced who will replace Quinn as sweeper, but was leaning toward senior Krista Spano because of her speed, toughness and poise. She will be joined in the back by Christina L’Insalata, Krysta Percaccio, Victoria Libertelli. Tom Siller said freshman Emily Clementi could possibly work her way into the starting backline by year’s end. Junior Kristy Ricca returns for her second season in goal.
“We are a very old team now,” Meghan Siller said. “We don’t have that many freshmen and sophomores as we used to.”
The veterans will face a new challenge this season as part of the newly formed CHSAA intersectional league. While a Staten Island champion will still be crowned, they will play non-league games against Queens powers Mary Louis and Christ the King, Bishop Kearney and defending CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens champion Fontbonne Hall. It’s something they believe will keep them on their toes and allow them to experiment on the field.
“We are expecting that the new competition will allow us to focus throughout the whole season,” Tom Siller said.
If they do, he will just remind them of how things ended last season when they were riding high into the postseason. It’s a concept he believes his team has grasped.
“It’s pushing us hard because we don’t want to feel like we felt last year,” Smith said. “It was a horrible feeling. It motivates us for this year.”