Turnover can cause growing pains early. Turnover with only a small amount of senior leadership could be worse.
Mepham’s girls’ soccer team has both, but with young energy, the Pirates are still competing day in and day out.
Mepham graduated 10 seniors, eight of which were starters. Last season’s roster was larger, but younger, as those freshmen who contributed are now sophomores. This fall's roster features two eighth-graders, just 12 and 13 years old, five seniors, no freshmen, and the rest are sophomores and juniors.
“They’re a great group,” coach Janine Bizelia said. “We’re playing the best of the best in conference one. I told them ahead of time, ‘Hey, it’s going to be a rough season. It’s going to be a hard start. We may go 0-8 to start the season, but know that ahead of time, and if you can get past it and achieve better than that, I think that we positively did something.”
Being in Conference 1 automatically enters the Pirates into the playoffs and with home field advantage in round one.
“I think playing those tough teams will set us up in a good spot for playoffs because we should be playing a team a little bit lower level than us,” Bizelia said. “But it is a struggle. We’re a smaller team, but they’re encouraging each other in practice. There’s a ton of energy at practice; it’s really competitive and they’re really trying to stay focused. They’re handling the adversity really well.”
Mepham is 0-4 and has been outscored 14-1 in those games.
“Even though they’ve faced all of this adversity, they’re really coming together and I think that’s important,” Bizelia added. “That’ll get them maybe that extra win in the playoffs or in the season.”
Sophomore midfielder Jamie Bataan found the back of the net for the team’s first goal against Plainedge Sept. 10 in the 4-1 loss.
“She’s extremely fast,” Bizelia said. “She has some track records at the school, and she just never gave up. It was in the second half and our other player, Victoria Olsen (junior), won the ball down the left side, gave a cross and Jamie just beat the defender and the keeper to put it in.”
Both eighth-graders have made an impact and have played meaningful minutes in the starting lineup: Midfielder Alexa Sacco and midfielder Vittoria DeMarco.
“They’re as skilled as or more skilled than some of these players that are on these great teams that we play against, but they’re really tiny and they sometimes battle with the size issue,” Bizelia said.
Other girls making an impact are sophomore center back Molly Trinka, sophomore center midfielder Taylor Almona, junior forward Lillian Kaufaman, sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Serio, senior goalkeeper Jenna Appicellalone and senior starter Addison Iemma.
Mepham opened up the journey with a 2-0 loss to defending Nassau Class AAA champion Oceanside, followed by a 5-0 loss at defending Class AA champion South Side, then a 3-0 loss against Garden City.
“We’re trying to stay healthy and focused throughout this adversity to keep us strong for the playoffs,” Bizelia said.
This Saturday, the Pirates head to MacArthur for a 10 a.m. start.
