The season started with heartbreak, followed by redemption for the Mahopac girls soccer team.
The Wolf Pac passed up a golden opportunity to pick up a win in its season opener last Wednesday at Walter Panas, with the Pac holding a 2-1 lead heading into the last five minutes of the game.
But the hosts didn’t give up, and came up with the tying and game-winning scores in the final minutes to send the shocked Pac home with a 3-2 loss.
Junior Kayleigh Dolan got Mahopac on the board in the first half, assisted by senior Fiona Kelleher, giving the Pac a lead with 7:24 remaining. Senior Niamh Kelleher scored off a feed from Fiona Kelleher 10 minutes into the second half to put the Pac up 2-0.
“I think we may have gotten a little too comfortable after we scored that second goal,” Mahopac coach James Carroll said. “Panas kept their foot on the pedal, they didn’t stop. And I think we got a little flustered after they scored that first goal. Then we got off our game, we were a little fatigued, and we didn’t have an answer for the pressure they put on us. After we controlled the first half, to give up that game was unfortunate.”
Mahopac soph keeper Brianna Savino had seven saves in net, and Walter Panas netminder Maya Lizewski also had seven stops.
Mahopac came back in its home opener Friday to spank Arlington B, 6-0.
Fiona Kelleher led the Pac with two goals and one assist. Dolan had a goal and two assists. Freshman Gianna Tucci, junior Emily Cleary, senior Riley Hughes and Savino each had an assist. Savino didn’t need any saves in the first half, and Roslyn Jacobs had three second-half saves for Mahopac.
“The girls responded well,” Carroll said. “We did a good job getting on the board early, got a lot of players in, and played well.”
The Wolf Pac only lost three starters from last year’s 9-4-3 team that fell to Albertus Magnus in the playoff quarterfinals.
Fiona and Niamh Kelleher, both team captains, head the list of returning key players, along with soph Sam Mazella, Kayleigh Dolan and senior Gianna Dolan. Newcomers include Tucci and junior defender Ella Biolchini.
“The preseason has been very exciting, we have a lot of talent with a lot of experience returning,” Carroll said. “Our league is a little different this year — Carmel, Panas, Yorktown, Lakeland — but it’s a positive, I think these are schools that we can compete with, and we can be a top team in the league.
“We have a lot of players who can make noise this season, and some exciting new players,” Carroll added. “Tucci is an aggressive attacker, with a lot of heart and grit, and defensively Biolchini has played well. I like what I’ve seen from them both so far. It was definitely disappointing to have that first game become a loss. That was the last outcome I expected, but we’ll put it behind us and focus on our upcoming games.”
Mahopac was set to visit Yorktown Thursday (Sept. 11) at 5 p.m., and the Pac hosts Lakeland Saturday at 3 p.m.
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