At number 22 in the LILJ top 24 preseason rankings are the Comsewogue Warriors of Suffolk Class B. This program led by Head Coach Kasey Mitchell appeared in the playoffs last year where they won a first round matchup against Bellport before being defeated by West Islip in the second round. This year they are a young team after graduating multiple seniors in the class of 2023, but still return eight of their 12 starters. Coach Mitchell expressed that defense will be a focal point this season and that she is looking forward to seeing the progression of her young offensive players.
“Although we are a young team, mostly driven by our sophomore class, many of these girls have been on varsity for the past few years and have the necessary experience to have success this upcoming year. Defense is going to be a huge focus of ours this year, being that we lost both of our pipes, in Lindsay Radmann (Pace) and Mia Fernandes (Marist), as well as our strong midfield defender in Alyssa Deacy (Florida). I am looking forward to seeing how some of our younger goal-scorers progress this year. We return our leading goal and point scorer Gianna McNulty and another strong addition Kamryn McCrary.”
Looking at the offense, the fire power starts with their sophomores coach Mitchell alluded to in Gianna McNulty and Kamryn McCrary. At attack McNulty burst onto the scene her freshman season with 21 goals and 15 assists for 36 points, and has only elevated her game which was shown this winter in the HSWL where she was dominant as an X attacker, filling it up with 17 goals and 11 assists through six games. Running midfield is McCrary who’s very versatile with her combination of scoring, ability to take the draw, and speed carrying the ball up the field. As a freshman McCrary had an 18 point season with 15 goals and three assists, and in six games this winter tallied 17 points with 14 goals and three assists.
Adding to the offense of the Warriors among their attack and midfield are sophomores Vienna Guzman (midfield), Jayla Callendar (midfield), Mikaela Knott (midfield), and junior LIU commit Abby Hughes (attack), and junior ESU commit Jackie Riviezzo. One young gun midfielder to look out for in the freshman class that could see action this season is Madison Moccio.
The Warriors defense is also made up of underclassmen as they look to establish an identity on that end of the field. Their winter league roster was filled with sophomore defenders including Caroline Scully, Kylie Smith, Gabby Sohngen, Ava Kropp, and Alyssa Devaux. They return each of their goalies between senior ESU commit Mia Nowlan and sophomores Isabella Borusso and Addison Kalberer with Nowlan and Borusso splitting time in the winter league.
The youth of Comsewogue will certainly be tested this season against high quality opponents across Suffolk County, but with the varsity experience their roster provides they’ll be very much in the mix to try to secure a spot in the playoffs.
