Kennedy's rise includes playoff win

There is little doubt that Kennedy’s 1-1 result with Hicksville last Friday felt more like a win than a tie.
That precious point saved the Cougars from competing in a play-in match in the Nassau County Class AA girls’ soccer playoffs on Saturday.
Instead, it allowed Kennedy, which finished third in Conference 3 with a 6-4-2 mark, to get a couple of days off before facing Bethpage on Monday. Then as the No. 11 seed, the Cougars advanced, 2-1, on the strength of goals by Alanna Schechtman and Abigayle Finkelstein and a dozen saves by Kathryn Powder.
The Cougars faced a 1-0 halftime deficit against Hicksville before coach Christine DeFilippo gave her team a halftime speech:
“If you think today’s game was hard, if we lose today, we have to play [Saturday] for a play-in game, and then if we won that we would have to play on Monday. The road only gets tougher,” she said.

Message received. “They dug deep in the second half,” DeFilippo said.
Hicksville was called for a handball in the box with 5:26 remaining in regulation Senior center back Hailey Kamler converted the equalizing penalty kick under pressure.
Kennedy entered the playoffs with momentum, going unbeaten in its final three games (2-0-1).
Last season the Cougars played in a more difficult conference in which they struggled but qualified for the playoffs anyway.
“We always made the playoffs where we used to never win games,” DeFilippo said. “But because we were always seated in a higher conference, we automatically went It used to be so hard to motivate the kids at the end of the season, when you have a losing record. It’s like you make the playoffs anyway, as long as you win one game. Now they have changed everything. Everything’s been close. I definitely liked the competition. It forces them to work. There’s no easy game. On any given day, whoever comes out to play is going to be the team that’s reflected on the scoreboard. I think it’s good.”
Kamler was one of two senior co-captains who have been with the team since the eighth grade. Midfielder-forward Ella Galjanich (team-high five goals) is the other.
“This senior group has changed the face of Kennedy,” DeFilippo said. “Soccer when I first started there was only 27 girls between two programs, JV and varsity. Twenty-two players, 11 and 11 starters. We had five subs between two teams. We were canceling games. We didn’t have enough players. It was hard. Those girls were there from the beginning. I always tell them: ‘You girls literally changed the culture of Kennedy soccer and put them on the map.”
The other two captains are seniors as well - midfielder Alexa Wohlleben and forward Isabelle Sivin, who have played since they were freshmen.
“The core four of them have played soccer their whole life,” DeFilippo said.
“Hailey’s a center back, so you don’t really see her much in the highlights, said DeFilippo, adding that the quartet was “such key players and playmakers, I know no matter what, whether they’re having a bad day or a good day, they’re going to give it their all on the field. It’s been like that for four years.”