South Side jelling behind seniors
There is no universal recipe for a team’s growth, even if many of the ingredients carry over from one year to the next.
That’s the case for South Side girls’ soccer, whose 16 seniors a year ago guided the Cyclones to the Nassau Class AA title, the 30th county championship in program history.
Now, six seniors are looking to navigate this year’s squad to similar success.
They wear the same uniforms, but this journey is uniquely theirs.
“As the new group comes in, you tell them this has to become your identity,” coach Judi Croutier said. “Each team is definitely South Side, but it’s also, what are you gonna put into the team?”
The result is a 6-2-1 record (6-3-1 overall) while navigating the turbulent waters of Nassau’s power conference, where almost every opponent is a county championship contender.
As of Oct. 2, the Cyclones were three points behind Garden City in second place, with Oceanside, Syosset, MacArthur, Massapequa and Calhoun behind them.
“I think the team is jelling,” Croutier said. “They're starting to believe in each other and hopefully, they keep peaking at the right time for playoffs. In the power league, every game is like a big playoff game. There are no freebies. Every game they have to be on.”
Among the six seniors who have taken ownership of this year’s squad are a pair of four-year varsity players — hard-working midfielder Sienna Connolly, a Northwestern lacrosse commit, and speedy Charlotte Rathjen, who will play lacrosse at the University of North Carolina.
Connolly and Rathjen share the captaincy with Sarah Schaefer, a forward with a strong work rate.
Sophomore Viv Haley anchors the defense with calm and composure in front of goalkeeper Abbey Grunner, while senior Taylor Hansman had to wait her turn behind last year’s seniors, but is now excelling on the backline.
“They believe in each other and they’re working together,” Croutier said. “We are finding ways to score. We are finding ways to pressure the other teams and play together.”
After a season-opening 3-2 win at MacArthur, the Cyclones fell to Garden City, 3-0 before playing Calhoun to a goalless draw.
And then South Side trailed Oceanside 2-0 in the first half and adversity had struck early.
The response was emphatic. Led by Rathjen’s brace, the Cyclones scored three unanswered goals to claim a dramatic 3-2 victory.
“The girls never gave up,” Croutier said. “We played well, we went out and we attacked them, we had all our chances and then we finished on the last two. We showed good resiliency.”
From that point, South Side won four of its next five league contests, not conceding a goal in wins over Massapequa, Syosset, MacArthur and Calhoun.
There are still matches against Oceanside, Massapequa and Syosset remaining in the regular season before this group of seniors looks to do what so many other seniors before them have done.
