No. 12 Commack Cougars Team Preview

Coming in at number 12 in the LILJ top 25 preseason rankings are the Commack Cougars of Suffolk Class A, a team that is very much in contention for the county title and an appearance in the Long Island Championship. Last season they won 15 games with just 3 losses and an appearance in the Class A Semifinals with a narrow defeat against Northport. This year they return much of their talent that was instrumental in the season they had last year, and during the offseason the team took part in the LILJ High School Winter League to help prepare them for the season in what they hope will see them compete for a top seed in the conference and a long playoff run.

Commack’s offense which was very prolific last year averaging 11.4 goals per game is filled with experienced upperclassmen in seniors Amelia Brite (FSU), Lili Pettit (Stony Brook) Aubrey Maurer (UConn) and Emily Parisi (Sacred Heart). This quartet of seniors all played a huge factor last season at attack and midfield and are all going to have a major impact in how far they go this year. Brite returns as their leader in points, scoring 51 goals with 15 assists for a 66 point junior year, and right behind her was Pettit with 41 goals and 24 assists for 65 points. Maurer also had a huge junior year with 19 goals and 27 assists for 46 points and Emily Parisi tallied 29 points with 20 goals and 9 assists. Their returning juniors at attack include Gabriella Brown (Springfield) and Ava Kolomechuk. Two of their underclassmen that will continue to elevate their game and see larger roles are sophomore Samantha Benedict at attack and freshman Ashley Arizonis at midfield. In her freshman year Benedict scored 4 goals with 5 assists and as an eighth grader Arizonis scored 12 goals with 3 assists. The big absence from this years team is 2024 graduate Emma Hendry who was third on the team in points last season and was a big presence on the draw circle. The Cougars defense returns sophomore defenders Sarah Franke and Leah Cohen who each now enter their second year on varsity. Franke and Cohen each have great speed in their game making them great assets in the clearing game getting the ball up to their offense. Also among their returning defenders is Scranton commit Julia Parisi and Kaylee McCann both in the junior class. Their defense will look slightly different this year without 2024 graduate Kate Hearns, but in the cage they return senior goalie Olivia Bezmalinovic coming off of a 94 save junior season. To get the regular season started Commack opens up with two non-league games against Syosset on March 27th and Comsewogue on March 29th before playing their first league game against Sachem East on April 2nd.