Varsity Soccer

Pres 0, St. Ignatius 0

Junior Varsity Soccer

Pres 4, St. Ignatius 0

Varisty Soccer

Pres 3, Sacred Heart Cathedral 3

Junior Varsity Soccer

Pres 7, Sacred Heart Cathedral 0

Junior Varsity Soccer

Pres 7, Sacred Heart Cathedral 0

Freshman Soccer

Pres 0, Mitty 2

February Game of the Month: Presentation vs. Sacred Heart

Presentation’s varsity soccer team dominated against the Irish (Sacred Heart) on Jan. 29 finishing the game 4-1. The game showed the young team’s potential for the upcoming WCAL tournament and CCS.

Sacred Heart started off with the ball, but junior Maire Rooney quickly took to dominating the center field and feeding balls wide to junior Megan McArthur. After a few ping pong minutes in the beginning, plays started developing in the back.

Defense was on point with junior Rachel Ometer controlling the back in the sweeper position, clearing everything in sight. Freshman Sarah Lipscomb raised the game’s energy by flying past an Irish and feeding the ball to Rooney who took a strong shot on goal, where it bounced off the crossbar. Freshman Maile Washington came hard to follow, planting the ball in the top right corner. 1-0 Panthers.

With some shots on goal and brilliant saves by captain senior Jennifer Randazzo, the half ended with Ometer and defender junior Julia Schon attacking two opponents at the top of the box and both ended on the ground, later having to leave the field, but the Panthers’ defense line held up.

The second half started with a quick shot by Rooney while McArthur and Washington kept following. Juniors Stephanie Maniglia and MC Guidoux stepped up in the wing and midfield position to get some strong shots off as well.

Fouls started flying until Ometer had one in the box, creating the opportunity for the Irish to score through a penalty kick. Randazzo almost had the stop, but it redirected into the goal off her feet. With the score 1-1 with 26 minutes left, the Panthers started crashing the goal.

Three minutes later, after Sacred Heart’s goalie failed with a punt, Lipscomb took a quick look and fired from almost midfield, flying over the goalie’s head into goal, making the game 2-1. Three minutes after that, Guidoux attacked through the defense and Maniglia came from behind and placed the ball over the goalie’s head again.

Without laying off the defensive pressure, with 16 minutes left, McArthur took a quick throw-in to the top of the box where Guidoux was ready to fire, nailing the ball into the back of the net.

Confident in their position, Randazzo went out in exchange for senior Andrea Tomlinson at goal. Finishing the game with heads held high, the Panthers walked proudly off the field with smiles of jobs well done. Check them out at their next game this Saturday, Feb. 5 at Presentation at 11 a.m. against Notre Dame Belmont.

Track Overview

As the track and field team changes every year, one thing stays the same: the Presentation Panthers have always done what they could with the small number of people available. They finished this season with a well deserved 3-3-0 record below the top three of Archbishop Mitty, Saint Francis, and Saint Ignatius, respectively.
With a tough season that featured many injuries, the long distance section of the Panther’s team still came out undefeated. Although the sprinting section did not finish off as well, junior Allison Bajet, whose best time in the 100-meter is 12.9 seconds, said,
“The individual races within the team really help build confidence because usually, when someone goes into a race thinking they are going to win and they lose, they can’t get out of the mental downspin. I like that little competition within the team. The races really help you learn that while you lose a few, you win a few. Your teammates make you go faster and strive to become better.” Bajet took part in many of the relays for Varsity this year, improving considerably since the first practice after coming out of her junior varsity soccer.
With all of the help this year from seven coaches and the volunteer coach for pole vaults, the athletes kept their heads ups with the wins and losses. Still, according to Coach Chris Cozort, consistent attendance at practices and meets remained a challenge.  “Mr. Cooling encourages athletes to participate in multiple sports at Pres, which helps our programs by spreading the school’s athletic ability around to multiple teams,” said Cozort, who will be leaving Presentation at the end of the year to work at Bellarmine. “Many athletes unfortunately choose to participate in club sports outside of Pres which has a generally negative impact on school sports participation.”
Overall, the team had a good year with many personal bests and young freshmen and sophomores making a difference. With this said, next year is expected to break new heights. With the size of Presentation, it is tricky to form a strong team overall, but Cozort believes we can do it. “We want the caliber team, which is easier to find in a bigger group of students, but we’ve assembled some great, strong, quick runners even with endurance. There will be a young team out there next year.”

February Game of the Month: Varsity Soccer vs. Saint Ignatius

Presentation varsity soccer faced off against Saint Ignatius on Friday, January 22 and gained a major 2-0 win. The team is now ranked 5th in CCS this season.
The game started at 3:20 p.m. after the teams both warmed up and put their game faces on. Seniors Michelle Kay and  Taylor Johnson started the kickoff. In the first 10 minutes, senior Shelby Galaviz continually attacked the ball even when the ball was mostly in the defensive end. Junior Jennifer Randazzo, the star goalie of the varsity team, kept everything out of the box with her punts passing over half the field.
Michelle Kay’s headers and Julia Shon’s throw-ins teamed up to start the attack towards St. Ignatius’ goalbox. Sixteen minutes into the half, Megan Mccarthur scored off of a rebound right over the goalie’s head giving Presentation a 1-0 lead.
Eight minutes later, St. Ignatius had a close call off of a corner kick, but Jennifer Randazzo gobbled up the soccer ball once again. After this moment, the momentum shifted into a major offensive attack for the Panthers.
With two minutes left of the first half, Taylor Johnson took the corner kick that landed right in the box where Maire Rooney ripped a shot from the top of the six-yard line, landing in the back of the top right corner of the goal. This ended the half with the Panthers up 2-0.
The second half began and, after 11 minutes, sophomore Megan Mccarthur went down with a kick to the side of her shin, taking her out for the rest of the game. When asked how she was doing, she commented, “I’m on Motrin right now, but I’ll be fine!” Sophomore Rachel Ometer went down later near the end of the game after she collided with last month’s athlete of the month, senior Emma Caringello, for a header. She is recovering well now, too. Ometer commented, “I am out with a concussion at the moment. But I will not give up, and I will keep supporting my team.”
For the last 30 minutes of the game, arms were flailing and fouls were being handed out right and left, but the Panthers dominated and kept SI out of their box. The game finished with the score of 2-0. Junior Aneska Alino after the win said, “It was amazing! We worked so hard to keep our title for first place.”

Player Profile: Emma Caringello

The Voice: How long have you been playing soccer? How did you get into soccer?
EC: I have been playing since I was five and I started in Rec. My parents put me in it because its just one of those sports that everyone plays at that age, and I just stuck with it.

The Voice: Do you play any other sports?
EC: No, I used to swim but I quit before freshman year.

The Voice: Do you play soccer for a club team or just for Presentation?
EC: I play for both a club team, NVLA Storm, as well as at Presentation.

The Voice: What do you like most about soccer?
EC: The team atmosphere and how you are always with the same people so they become your best friends. My best friends have always been on my soccer team.

The Voice: How many days a week do you practice?
EC: I practice two days a week with my team and another day a week by myself or with some other teammates. Then we also have games on the weekends.

The Voice: What teams are going to be your biggest competition this year?
EC: Mitty always has a good team and they have tons of seniors this year. So they will be a good challenge but I think we can do well.

The Voice: What do you believe is your greatest success as a soccer player?
EC: I believe my greatest success would be committing to Boston University and being able to play Division I soccer in college.

The Voice: What position do you play?
EC: I mostly play defense on the outside but I can play in the center too. I sometimes play midfield but not that much.

The Voice: How did you decide on Boston University and how does it feel to be a signed athlete?
EC: The hardest part for me was deciding whether I was going to stay close to home or whether I was going to go across the country. Then I went on my official and I went to a camp at BU and the people were what did it for me. When you live that far away from your actual family, the people become your family. I decided to go to BU because I had such a great experience when I was out there. It feels great especially only having to fill out one application.

The Voice: What is your personal goal this season?
EC: This season I would really like to grow as captain and lead the team well through the season.  It would be great to win a CCS championship my senior year.
The Voice: Have you thought about going pro?
EC: I haven’t ever really thought about going pro.  It would definitely be a challenge and even though I love soccer, it isn’t what I want to do as a job.  It has always been about the game and playing for enjoyment.  I think making it a profession would change the way I love it and put extra pressure on the game.

The Voice: Are you looking forward to playing soccer in college?
EC: I am definitely looking forward to playing in college. I saw a BU game against Harvard when I was out there, and it is definitely a different level but it’s exciting.

The Voice: What keeps you pushing through your last year even after you have signed and are set in terms of college?
EC: Even though I am already “set” in terms of college, I just want to finish the year well. Sometimes it is hard to stay focused on schoolwork, but I don’t want my grades to slip when there is only half the year left.  Even though it’s a cliché, I just want to end high school on a good note.