Hampton Bays Girls Soccer Finishes Best Season In Recent Memory

The Hampton Bays girls soccer team had one of its best seasons in recent memory, finishing with a 4-7 record in League VII in what was a shortened campaign due to the ongoing pandemic, and although it’s not a record that will get the team to the postseason, it’s a huge step in the right direction for a program that had been struggling for the past several seasons.

The Baymen won two of their final three games, including a 3-0 victory over Amityville at home on what was their Senior Day on April 3, then they picked up a 2-0 victory at Wyandanch on April 6. Hampton Bays lost its regular-season finale, 7-0, at home to reigning state champion and top-seeded Shoreham-Wading River this past Thursday, April 8, but even in that loss, head coach Andrew Seabury liked what he saw from his players.

“At the end of the day, the first half was probably our finest performance yet. The girls played superbly, playing against the state champions,” he said. “In the second half, we threw in a lot of girls for experience, and Shoreham is truly a great team. But even their coach said we were the only team in the league to try and play them in the trap and do it somewhat successfully, so that was good.”

Seabury, an English native who now calls Hampton Bays home, had coached the junior varsity team the past few years, along with José Alarcón, but both were elevated once coach Keegan Bishop went out on maternity leave. Seabury really enjoyed coaching the varsity squad this season and thought the girls took well to him and Alarcon.

“We finished 4-7. I think they may have won that many games combined over the past three years, so we look at that as a small step, but a step in the right direction,” he said. “Our goal was five or six wins, maybe poach a win away from one of the large schools, but the way they run these things it’s not easy for a small school like Hampton Bays.”

Senior co-captain Saorla Scully played three years on varsity and very much enjoyed her final season on the team, even if it came during a pandemic. A three-sport athlete, playing soccer, indoor track and lacrosse, Seabury said Scully has the ability to play soccer in college if she chooses to, but Scully said she’s still deciding between three schools to attend, and therefore hasn’t decided yet if she’s going to play sports or not.

“Attitude wise, everyone was super positive this season and definitely more dedicated than in the past. We had a big team and everyone was really into it,” she said. “Going into the year, we were so uncertain what was going to happen, whether we were going to have a season or not. I’m happy with the way everything turned out. Corona didn’t change that much. It was definitely better than nothing.”

Jennifer Serna, another senior captain, said it was a great experience and saw a lot of improvement on the team throughout the season. Also a three-sport athlete, playing soccer, basketball and spring track, the two-year varsity soccer player thought the hard work she and her teammates put in during practice bore out in the games.

“That team work helped out a lot in the season,” she said.

Senior Cassidy Moore played soccer for the first time since eighth grade, mainly, she said, to get in shape for the upcoming lacrosse season. Moore is an All-County lacrosse player and will be playing the sport at SUNY Oneonta. The talented athlete, who also ran winter track this year, wound up leading the soccer team in scoring this season with 10 goals, which included three separate hat tricks.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “It took me a while to learn offsides. I play lacrosse and so that took a while to get used to. Both coaches were a lot of help and it was a good experience. Even though we had a lot freshmen on the team, it was definitely the most we had won in a long time.”

Joining Moore, Scully and Serna at graduation this June will be Jamilex Nieto, Jaime Farez, Gabby Ramos, Stephanie Alvarez, Nicole Gamboa, Alejandra Marin, Merary Valle, Priscila Putzulu and Maria De Jesus. It’s a large class of seniors, but Seabury thinks if the returning crop of young girls can continue to keep their game strong throughout the year by playing on some club travel teams, they can continue to see growth in the future.

“The whole season we were playing with two freshmen goalkeepers. Most of our midfield were either freshmen or sophomores, so we had this sort of blend of young girls, and then seniors,” Seabury said. “And you’re always going to miss your seniors who have that experience, but we do have a good group of young girls coming through middle school.”

To that end, the Long Island Junior Soccer League, one of the largest youth soccer leagues in the country, of which Seabury is the president, is opening LIJSL Academy East, which will be based in Manorville but will serve the entire East End. While there are a number of clubs on the East End already, Seabury said LIJSL offers a much more affordable option.

​”Hampton Bays has always suffered from not having a travel team, but I’m hoping with my involvement with LIJ we can start to change that,” Seabury said. “It’s a lower cost based system to try and encourage those who may not be able to afford $2,000 a month to play on a club team. From a league perspective, I would see the benefit from it for these girls.”

For more information on LIJSL Academy East, visit lijsoccer.com/programs/lijsl-academy/academy-east.