John Jay girls soccer suffers first loss before heading into post-season

Kayla Cambareri leaps to try and break up a play against Scarsdale. Abby Mattielo heads the ball against Scarsdale. Mykel Papa makes the play on defense for John Jay in victory over Greeley. Audrey Oestreicher wins a loose ball against Horace Greeley. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

It was a tough schedule from the start and the John Jay girls varsity soccer team was up for the challenge as the Wolves almost made it through the regular season without a loss.

John Jay finished off a tough league schedule with impressive victories over rivals Horace Greeley and Byram Hills last week, but the Wolves were looking for one more challenge against a tough opponent to prepare for the upcoming tournament.

The Wolves went on the road on Monday, Oct. 20, to take on Scarsdale, a tough Class AAA opponent, and it was a battle from start to finish. However, the host Raiders were able to break the ice and get a goal and that was all they needed to wrap up a 1-0 victory and hand John Jay its first loss of the season.

It was better to get a loss in the regular season finale, because now comes the playoffs where it is win and advance or lose and go home.

John Jay finished the regular season with a 12-1-3 overall record, and that earned them the number four seed in the Class A Section 1 championship tournament.

Prior to the loss at Scarsdale, John Jay had one of its biggest wins of the season on Saturday, Oct. 18, against Horace Greeley. The two teams had tied earlier in the season and both teams entered the game with an undefeated record.

Senior captain Kayla Cambareri got the Wolves on the board first as she scored off a rebound on a corner kick, and it was 1-0 John Jay in the lead at halftime.

John Jay made it 2-0, midway through the second half when Myla Schneider scored a goal for the Wolves. Greeley answered back with a goal about five minutes later. Coco Inglis then scored for John Jay on a header off an indirect kick by Audrey Oestreicher to make it 3-1 with 3:48 left to play. Greeley was able to score again to cut the lead down to one, but John Jay goalie Brooke Epstein and the defense in front of her held off the Quakers in the final minutes to wrap up a 3-2 victory.

On Thursday, Oct. 16, John Jay traveled to Byram Hills and came home with a 3-0 shutout victory. Maye Viders and Kayla Cambareri combined for the first goal for a 1-0 lead at halftime. Mykel Papa scored on a penalty kick to make it 2-0, and Coco Inglis scored the third goal for the Wolves.

John Jay now hopes to carry over the momentum into the post season as the Wolves are among several teams capable of winning it all in the Class A tournament. The Wolves earned the number four seed and will host No. 13-seed Westlake in the first round Saturday, Oct. 25. The winner advances to the quarterfinals Tuesday, Oct. 28, where John Jay hopes to host No. 5 seed Bronxville.