West Hempstead riding positive vibe

A conference change paid huge dividends for the West Hempstead girls’ soccer team last season as it parlayed it into a conference championship. But will the Rams be able to maintain that success as they endure another division switch?

After a pair of one-win seasons in Conference B1, West Hempstead moved up to AB-3 in 2023 and produced eight victories, including a 3-0 win over Oyster Bay in the finale to clinch the title. The Baymen won the playoff rematch a week later, but the Rams still held a 30-11 scoring advantage last season and did not allow more than two goals in any contest with five shutouts.

West Hempstead now finds itself in Conference AB-2 with Cold Spring Harbor, Friends Academy, Island Trees, Lynbrook and Mineola. Rams coach Kelly Byrne is cautiously optimistic about the season and believes the losing that plagued the team when she first arrived is over.

“A successful season [is] if we were .500,” she said. “That would be successful for me because we came from losing. I don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, we’re going to win the conference.’ I don’t want to set the bar so high. Even if we started out slow, I’d at least like to win half of the games.”

Injuries hampered the team last year and two players who tore their ACLs, senior defender Cayla Hogan and sophomore Mikaela Sarmiento, are doubtful to play this season, according to Byrne. Senior midfielder Melanie Rodriguez is back after dislocating her knee.

One player who stayed healthy, Madison Abi-Aoun, had a breakout junior season with 14 goals and 23 points, including five multi-goal efforts. She has built a tremendous rapport with fellow senior and club teammate Sara Dos Santos (3-7-10) and Byrne is hoping the pair can wreak havoc on the pitch again.

“This year, she has almost like her twin, like a counterpart in Sara Dos Santos,” Byrne said of Abi-Aoun. “Now, she’s become less selfish and more of a distributor of the ball because she has all of these other players to work with. She can, if she wants to, score at will.”

Junior Willow Stern could provide tertiary scoring after collecting a pair of goals last season.

Senior defensive midfielder Samantha Solar can also make the smart pass and Byrne wants to get her more involved offensively. Junior Daniella Healy is a dependable center back and speedy sophomore Arianna Corona and converted forward Marissa Koller (4-1-5) will play the wings.

Senior Sophia Ciminera has been the starting goalkeeper since the eighth grade and continued to play on a high level last season by averaging almost 13 saves a game (150 total), including a season-high 21 in a 2-1 win over Carle Place last Oct. 2. 

“She’s the rock,” Byrne said. “She is the most reliable, dependent, positive [person]. For a high school senior, she’s incredibly mature. Regardless if anyone makes a mistake, she just says, ‘OK, we have to do this better.’ I think the program is being built on her back almost.”