Ten girls soccer teams to look for in the post season

The start of the girls soccer playoffs is coming up quickly in the NYSPHSAA. The five state title games will be played on Sunday, Nov. 16 at SUNY Cortland, also the site of recent championships.

Will we be seeing some familiar jerseys once again? We shall see.

To get a better idea of whether last year's 10 finalists will be returning to Cortland, we thought we'd take a look at how their 2014 seasons having been going so far:

See NYSPHSAA girls soccer playoff brackets for 2014

Massapequa: Wagner College-bound Kristen Bischoff has eight goals and five assists to lead the Chiefs, who beat North Rockland by 2-1 in last year's NYSPHSAA Class AA final. Massapequa is 8-1-1, with a season-opening 1-1 tie against East Meadow and 1-0 loss to Immaculate Heart Academy its only blemishes.



North Rockland: Versatile junior Amber Alfonzo scored nine goals in eight playoff games last season for the Red Raiders (7-0), who have also have a high-scoring senior in Loyola-bound Julianna Cabrera, a five-year varsity player, and playmaking midfielder Taylor Alymer. There are also some sister acts, with Maria Cabrera, Julianna's sibling, stepping up, along with Gabby and Danielle Cajou.

See NYSPHSAA girls soccer playoff brackets for 2013

Garden City: The Trojans, who beat Honeoye Falls-Lima 1-0 in the 2013 Class A title game, hope to build some momentum heading down the stretch, and have a four-game unbeaten streak with three wins and a tie during that span. Kelly George had two goals, Kristen Adams one goal and one assist and Caroline Pepard and Amanda Volpe combined to make six saves for GC (4-3-2) in a 5-0 win over Bellmore Oct. 2.

Honeoye Falls-Lima: Coming off its first Section 5 championship since 1989, the Cougars improved to 7-2-1 on Oct. 1 by beating Canandaigua, 2-0, as Morgan Machiele had a goal and an assist. Andrea Less and Sophia Hetelekides combined on the shutout.

Oneonta: Oneonta, which beat Marcellus, 2-1, in the Class B final in 2013, has had some ups and downs this fall. The Yellowjackets are coming off a 3-1 win over Susquehanna Valley as Taylor Hitchock snapped a 1-1 tie by scoring in the half before Tarryn More added an insurance tally. Oneonta, which has beaten Seton Catholic Central three straight years in the Section 4 Class B final, fell to SCC, 3-2, on Sept. 17.

View all New York girls soccer photo galleries

Marcellus: Marcellus has been tested by a tough schedule, but is just a couple of wins away from the 10-victory mark. One of those tough tests was a 2-0 loss to Jamesville-DeWitt, a game in which Marcellus managed just two shots on goal. That game followed a 3-2 loss to Homer.

Holland: The Lady Dutchmen, who beat Haldane 2-1 to capture the 2013 Class C championship and wrap up a 19-1-1 season, are led by athletic junior Olivia Schmidt, who also excels in basketball, and high-scoring Molly Zientek, who had three goals and two assists in a 7-1 win over Alden on Oct. 3.

View New York girls soccer scoring leaders

Haldane: Bailey McCollum has been getting her points across – literally – for the Blue Devils. She had three goals in a recent 6-2 win over Putnam Valley.



Jasper-Troupsburg: J-T, which defeated Poland 4-2 to take the Class D title last season, lost tournament MVP and state Class D player of the year Kaitlin Huyler (28 goals, 14 assists) to graduation. But the Wildcats have just one loss and one tie during what has been a strong start.

Poland: Poland, which won the 2012 state title, is perfect at 11-0 behind a high-powered offense that features Mikayala Blumenstock.

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Multimedia news and sports editor and producer Joe Lombardi is director of media initiatives and managing editor of the DailyVoice.com, as well as the primary author of the most recent edition of "Lacrosse for Dummies." Follow Joe on Twitter @Joe_Lombardi or e-mail jlombardi@dailyvoice.com