Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard

MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the Monroe-Woodbury (Central Valley, N.Y.) Crusaders have officially been named to the 14th Annual MaxPreps Soccer Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its eighth year honoring girls soccer.

This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for 100 of the top teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For soccer, only 20 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 34,000 competing varsity teams, this puts the Crusaders ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!

In order to be eligible, the team not only had to be nationally ranked, but also had to win a state championship. Beating Bethlehem Central 1-0 in the NYSPHSAA Class 2A state championship match on Sunday, November 11 marked the completion of an incredible 19-1-1 season — and earned Monroe-Woodbury an invitation to the Tour of Champions.

Kaelyn Salatto converted the only goal for the champions, but it was all the Crusaders needed, as Monroe-Woodbury's defense limited the scoring opportunities of Bethlehem Central at Tompkins Cortland Community College, allowing the Crusaders to claim their first girls state soccer championship in Monroe-Woodbury's first trip to a girls state final last November.

Lined up on the 18-yard penalty box line, Salatto went left on a corner kick, received the ball from Colleen Kinsella with 13-minutes, 44-seconds left in regulation and headed in the championship-winning goal shortly before the Monroe-Woodbury boys claimed their state title. Amara Hatzis provided a critical goalkeeper screen on the game-winning play and Angela Fini, who did not allow a goal during state tournament play, was solid once again.

The Crusaders opened state tournament play with a 1-0 win over Arlington before kicking in the door to the Final Four with a 2-0 blanking of Ithaca. Monroe-Woodbury bumped Smithtown West from state championship contention with a 1-0 semifinal win to set up the championship bout with Bethlehem Central.



Monroe-Woodbury opened the season with a 6-0 triumph over Goshen Central. Then, following a 5-0 blanking of Valley Central, the Crusaders shutout Pine Bush 7-0 to open the season 3-0. After dropping a 3-1 decision to Arlington, Monroe-Woodbury did not lose again, winning 16 of their final 17 contests with their only blemish being a 0-0 draw with Kingston. The Crusaders outscored their competition 75-9 on the year and posted 15 shutouts. William Mpasiakos club held 19 foes to one goal or less, while scoring a season-high eight goals in a pair of wins over Middletown.

Having won its final nine contests of the year, Monroe-Woodbury set itself up for some rather high rankings come season's end. Not only are the Crusaders the top-ranked club in MaxPreps' New York Section 9 Rankings, Monroe-Woodbury is the fourth best squad in all of New York. The Crusaders are the No. 30 team in MaxPreps' National Rankings!

These incredible season achievements have earned the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders an invitation to the 14th Annual Tour of Champions. Please join us in the gymnasium as we celebrate with the girls soccer team, coaching staff, students and fans on Wednesday, January 16 at approximately 6:30 p.m. at halftime of the boys basketball game.

For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.