Chris Lanza has sensed a different atmosphere this preseason around his Bard girls soccer team.
When the third-year coach took over he was trying to build the program from one struggling in PSAL Manhattan A-II to one of the division’s top squads. That came to fruition last season when the Raptors finished second and pushed eventual city champion Beacon. Bard also put its name among the city’s elite by reaching its first-ever quarterfinals, where it lost to Tottenville.
“You can tell in the attitude in the team,” Lanza said. “There is a lot of confidence. They are talking that way. You can sense the confidence in their voices. They expect to win now. They expect to compete with the best teams in the city,”
They will have to do it this season without center midfielder Mina Kobayashi and goalkeeper Maya Osborne. Still, a talented core returns, starting with new center mid Emma Lumey, who slides in from forward. The senior tallied 20 goals and 21 assists last season. She joins Zoe Kessler, who scored 11 goals and dished out nine assists last year. Athletic sophomore Safiyah Riddle will be the stopper so she can help generate an offensive push.
“Her intensity and her aggressiveness, I think, are key back there,” Lanza said of Riddle. “We are comfortable playing the ball back to her and she can start the whole attack.”
He will have youth at the forward sports with freshman Katie Safter and sophomore Lilly Rubin-Miller stepping in. The defense with be inexperienced with Celina Dyal back from an injury and Sofie Hecht now starting after being a reserve last season. Saskia Binder Tulenko and Sara Xing Eisenberg are battling to replace Osborne in goal. Betsey Allman and Isabel Cristos will see time at midfield.
LaGuardia coach Ian Srebnick sees his forwards as a work in progress, but has confidence in his midfield and defense. That’s pretty easy to say when talented veterans Gabby Davis and Megan Caccavale will be playing in the center of the pitch. The seniors combined for 13 goals and 20 assists last season. Senior sweeper Bria Barfield is also back after suffering a mid-season foot injury. Raina Dziuk returns in net and Srebnick says she has really improved through summer camps.
“We will be trying to figure out where our offense is going to come from, but our midfield and defense is going to be pretty tough” he said.
Hunter placed third last season and will again be powered by one of the best young players in the city in Dominque Russell. The sophomore scored an astounding 27 goals and dished out 10 assists. She will be joined by junior Magdelana Zielonka, who had 13 goals and 12 assists, and Eva Peter. The Hawks lost just six seniors from a team that fell to Petrides in the second round.
Stuyvesant will feature a new coach in Hugh Francis as he takes over for Suzanne Lendzian. He will have to make up for the loss of top goal scorer Ashleigh Bowie.
Defending Manhattan A-VIII champion Martin Luther King Jr. will try to win a second straight division crown under new coach Bryan Straub. He spent the last three seasons with the Louis Brandeis boys squad and will be in for a rebuilding season with 10 seniors gone.
Senior forward/midfielder Franceska Regnier, who had eight goals last season returns. Jadzia Ramsay and Christine Claudia will lead the defense. S
chool of the Future, AP Randolph, HS for Math and Science and Lab Museum will all be trying to dethrone MLK.
“She is very athletic,” Straub said of Regnier. “She can get around people easily because she is so tall.”