Experience and maturity have gone a long way for Long Island City’s Alison Dowdle this season – even as a sophomore.
The Bulldogs forward had an exceptional freshman campaign with 17 goals and five assists as LIC won its second straight division title. She has only exceeded that this year. In six games, Dowdle already has 13 goals and five helpers, including two and one in a win over rival Forest Hills on Tuesday. She is ranked fifth among PSAL goal scorers.
“She has this amazing finish,” Bulldogs coach Mark Skorupski. “She is this young talented girl.”
Soccer is a big part of every day life for Dowdle. She is in Skorupski’s soccer class in school, practices with the team and many times goes to Gottschee practice later that night. It’s led to a more refined skill set. She has always had a scoring knack, but is now more patient and selective about when she shoots and looks to get teammates involved more. The Bulldogs, ranked No. 9 in the PSAL, are in the driver’s seat at 6-0-0 for a third straight Queens A-VII crown.
“She is thinking before shooting,” junior midfielder Geraldine Huisa said. “Before she would just shoot, shoot, shoot. Now she is more teamwork.”
Added Dowdle: “We started getting more together as a team on the field.”
Skorupski feels her soccer future is bright. She is going to get bigger and strong and her game will grow even more. He believes she could be a scholarship player by the time she is a senior and is well on her way.
“She’s matured,” Forest Hills coach Bob Sprance said. “You can see the experience is really there. She settles the ball nice. She shoots well. She distributes it. She’s become a complete player.”
Improved health equaling big results for Science senior: Phoebe Dawkins was doing more shooting with a camera than her foot in the early season. The star Bronx Science midfielder suffered a sprained ankle in the preseason and was relegated to being behind the video camera. When league games began, coach Annie Eckstein used her sparingly.
“Even then she was still hurting, hurting in a way that she could play through it, but she wasn’t 100 percent,” Eckstein said. “She was our official filmer for a couple of games.”
It took about 2-1/2 weeks for Dawkins to return to normal. Eckstein could see her improving just by looking at her face in practice. She was making slide tackles and physical plays without grimacing. Her good health is showing in games, too.
Dawkins, who is still not quite 100 percent, has seven goals and two assists in the Wolverines last four games, including the winner in a non-league game against defending PSAL champion Beacon. Her coach credited Dawkins’ poise as one of the big reasons for the victory that propelled Science to No. 3 in The Post’s NYC girls soccer rankings.
“She took a touch away from pressure and scored the goal with her weak foot in the lower corner,” Eckstein said. “She used her weak foot, which is excellent.”
Keeper in net for SFP: Freshman goalkeeper Samantha Cobotic has filled in nicely for the injured Kimmi Careddo. Cobotic made a full extension leaping save on Molloy star Casey Collins and gobbled up a blast from the top of the box by Kristen Loyer to end the first half in an eventual 4-3 loss to Archbishop Molloy on Monday. SFP coach John Jenkins has raved about her instincts at such a young age. Cobotic came back with a clean sheet in a 7-0 win over St. Mary’s on Wednesday.
“I think she is really an amazing goalie,” Jenkins said. “Some of those saves I really thought they were going to go in, but she was right there. She really saved up from more goals.
Notes: The Charlie Zink/Kiwanis tournament has been moved to Friday morning at Forest Hills because of the rain Thursday. If will feature Forest Hills, Arts & Business, Richmond Hill and Beach Channel among others. … Former St. Peter’s coach Tara Ferraiuolo is now at assistant girls varsity coach at St. Joseph by the Sea, where she was a star player. … Fontbonne Hall coach Victor Popovsky expects to have both Casey Ryan and Kristen Corral back from injury in two weeks. … Bayside’s D.J. Glazer leads the PSAL in goals with 25, just five ahead of Riverdale/Kingsbridge’s Summer Sofer. Newcomer’s Anamaria Amaya is the top Class B scorer with 16 goals. … Rachel Copulsky has either a goal or an assists in each of Riverdale’s seven games.