Fox Lane's girls soccer team cruises to victory over Putnam Valley

Jillian Kurchack makes her move and looks to make a pass for Fox Lane. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

A new season, a new lineup and a new coach for the Fox Lane varsity girls soccer team, and the Foxes were fired up to host Putnam Valley on Tuesday, Sept. 14.

After starting off the season with a pair of losses, the Foxes are starting to come together and they pounced on an opportunity to record their first win of the season hosting the Tigers. Fox Lane jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first half and cruised to a 4-1 victory, playing a strong game from start to finish to close out the win.

Senior captain Jillian Kurchack got the Foxes fired up as she scored the first goal of the game to give her team the early lead. Deisi Pimental Vasquez followed with a goal to make it 2-0 and the Foxes were in control.

“It really riled everybody up, got everybody on their feet, and it felt good,” Kurchack said of her goal. “We wanted this game pretty bad; we fought hard for this win and we’re really happy. We have a fun team, all playing for each other, and we have to bring that to the field.”

Putnam Valley responded with a goal late in the half to cut the lead down to 2-1, but the Foxes were determined to put this one away and came out strong to start the second half.

Fox Lane applied the pressure with sophomore Lauren Spolansky, a constant threat on breakaways into Putnam Valley territory. Just four minutes into the half the pressure paid off as Spolansky controlled the ball and fired a cross to Sofia Valenzuela who drilled a shot into the net for the goal to make it 3-1.

Spolansky just missed a goal as she ripped a shot that was deflected over the cross bar. At the 21-minute mark, Spolansky was able to get one into the net as she buried a shot for the goal off an assist from Kurchack to make the final score 4-1.

Captain Dylan New came up with a big save stopping a breakaway to keep the score 4-1, but she was shaken up in the ensuing collision and had to come out of the game. Sophomore Summer Yaggi came on in goal to close out the victory for the Foxes.

It was the first victory for new head coach Christiaan Cacciotti as he took over the program that was hit hard by graduation.

“For the majority of the game today, we played some beautiful soccer,” Cacciotti said of his team. “That was our first real complete game from start to finish. We only have a few players with real varsity experience, we graduated 12 seniors from last year, but we’re very confident in their talent level. Once they start to believe in themselves, this team will definitely grow and get better and better.”

Most of those 12 seniors were starters on the varsity roster last year, including Amanda Mazzuca, who finished her career as the leading goal scorer in Fox Lane history. Her younger sister sophomore Lily Mazzuca is one of several talented youngsters stepping up into leading roles as varsity starters this year with five sophomores, three freshmen and an eighth grader on the varsity roster. Spolansky was the second leading scorer on varsity last year as a freshman and every opponent knows what she is capable of doing to lead the offense for the Foxes.

New is a returning starter in goal to anchor the defense for the Foxes. She has a lot of new faces in front of her, including freshman Madelyn Sotherden, junior Bryhana Madrunero-Lozano and sophomore Avery Donovan. They combined with sophomore midfielder Nora Antonaccio to help shut down the Tigers.

“Our defensive line is completely new,” added Cacciotti. “Dylan is a great leader in goal. We made some adjustments and they made better decisions and played smart, making a great connection with the forward line and we created a ton of scoring chances.”

Fox Lane hopes to carry the momentum from the victory over as the young team continues to come together on the field. The Foxes were set to face Mahopac on the road on Thursday, and then travel to Arlington on Saturday, Sept. 19.