The Comsewogue Warriors come into our top 20 preseason rankings at No. 14. They are contenders to represent Suffolk County in the Class B LIC after a season that saw them win a total of twelve games and earn the first overall seed. Their season however came to an end in the county final against Westhampton, leaving this year’s team wanting more. Assistant Coach Kasey Mitchell expressed her excitement to see what they are capable of accomplishing this season. “I am excited to see what our girls can accomplish this year. We return key players in the midfield and defense, along with our younger kids who are ready for the challenge. In order for us to be successful this year our younger girls need to step up and fill the voids that were left by the graduating seniors from last year.”
Beginning with the returning players, they will be led by the future Florida Gator Alyssa Deacy at the midfield position. Deacy plays the game with toughness, grit, and is an immensely skilled player. As a junior Deacy led the Warriors in points with 44, scoring 21 times and dishing out 23 assists. Joining her in the midfield is fellow senior Gabby Constant the Bryant commit who added 23 goals and took the majority of the draws. The experience of these two upperclassmen will be combined with youthful players like freshman Kamryn McCrary. As only an eighth grader McCrary played valuable minutes, making an impact with 10 goals and eight assists for 18 points. Going beyond the stats McCrary brings electrifying speed and has a tremendous handle. The main difference between at midfield between last year and this year is they are without Jaidyn Donley, Shannon Harrington and Mackenzie Beck who were 2022 graduates, now playing at Stony Brook, Kennesaw State and Pace respectively.
Comsewogue’s attack is going to look different this year without Mackenzie Beck, but one of their young attackers who will be a difference maker is sophomore Jackie Riviezzo who was part of last season’s roster as a freshman. In the LILJ HSWL Riviezzo saw ample playing time and found the back of the net eight times.
Offensively as a team they were only ranked tenth in Conference B/C/D at 9.4 goals per game, but it didn’t prevent them from having plenty of success because of the strength of their defense. Senior defenders Mia Fernandes (Marist) and Lindsay Radmann (Pace) are two of their upperclassmen leaders for a defense that held some of the more higher volume offensive teams well below their season average. The defense only allowed 6.3 goals per game. With 2022 graduate Gabby Tomaso no longer on the team, Comsewogue will look to fill the void at the goalie position. In the mix will be junior Mia Nowlan and freshmen Isabella Borusso and Addison Kalberer who all saw playing time in the HSWL.
The talent in Comsewogue’s program runs deep as they have a number of young guns who could be in the fold this year. At attack Gianna McNulty who’s only a freshman had a phenomenal winter, proving to be a strong finisher around the crease, and sees the field very well making her valuable distributor of the ball. Their talented young guns continue with freshmen Jayla Callender, Mikaela Knott, Vienna Guzman and sophomore Abby Hughes.
To get the 2023 season started the Warriors play their first league game on March 27th against Mt. Sinai. Some of the opponents on their schedule against Class B teams who are likely to be fighting for the playoffs include Smithtown West (4/15), West Islip (4/17), ESM (4/19), and West Babylon (4/27).