The reigning two-time Class D Long Island Champion Cold Spring Harbor Lady Seahawks come in at No. 18 in our preseason rankings. They have a rich history of success, winning state championships in both 2018 and 2019. After defeating Center Moriches in the LIC, their 2022 season came to an end in the state semis against Bronxville. Led by Head Coach Danielle Castellane since 2007, she shared the outlook that she has for her team this season. “Lots of youth but with experience… Losing All-American Ava Tighe will allow for a more balanced offense. It will be harder to scout us, with more opportunities for players to step up.”
Among their key returners is All-County attacker Hannah Van Son who is one of only three seniors on the roster. Last season she was second on the team in goals with 37 and will surely be in for a big senior campaign. Joining her as upperclassmen on the team are midfielders Jenna Kessler and Amelia Bentley who were part of the rotation last season. It’s going to take a collective effort to replace the productivity of Ava Tighe who was responsible for the majority of their offense with a team high 68 goals.
This means that some of their young guns like sophomores Ryan Reynolds, Maggie Spehr, and Kelly Callaghan who were part of last year’s team will have an enhanced role and see significant minutes. The trio had a combined 64 points in the 2022 season. According to coach Castellane sophomores Rachel Louie (Midfield) and Michelle Coles (Defense) will be looking to crack this year’s starting lineup. Defensively they get the return of senior defender Avery Laffey. Arguably the biggest key to this year’s team is the return of sophomore All-Long Island goalie Maya Soskin. She is as good as it gets on the island and with her between the pipes she gives them a chance to be in every game. Her 134 saves last year was good for the second most in Nassau County.
Statisically Cold Spring Harbor averaged 10.4 goals per game which was only ranked seventh among the ten Power Conference teams, but defensively they were third in the conference in goals against at 8.5 per game. One area that the team would love to turn around this year is their record in close games as they went only 2-4 in one goal games in the ’22 season.
Like they do each year Cold Spring Harbor will play a top flight schedule between the competition in their conference as well as a number quality non-league opponents both on and off the island. They open up the season with a non-league matchup against Farmingdale on March 28th. Some of their notable league matchups include Massapequa (4/11), Wantagh (4/19), Manhasset (4/27), Garden City (5/2), and Long Beach (5/8). Their other non-league games on the schedule feature Harborfields (3/30), Huntington (4/5) Sacred Heart LI (4/13), St. Anthonys (4/21), Sacred Heart Greenwich (4/29), and John Jay.
