They were teammates for multiple Section V girls soccer titles while wearing the blue and gold of the Spencerport Rangers and now college juniors Cami Brescia, Emma Taylor, and Alyssa Hackett are playing key roles for the women’s soccer program at Roberts Wesleyan.
Brescia and Taylor are in their third year with the program while Hackett transferred in this season after two years with St. Peter’s.
“Emma and Cami have been stars for us playing tons of minutes over the last couple of years and have really been the lifeblood of this team,” first year head coach Jeff Vieira said. “Good players can play with anybody in my opinion and she (Hackett), I call her a little sparkplug up there. She plays super hard…and is a very good player too.”
Taylor, who started 34 of 36 games over her first two seasons with the Redhawks, is anchoring the backline on defense, while Brescia, a Third-Team All-East Coast Conference selection last season, can be moved from defense to midfield to forward depending on the game situation.
“Brescia is attack-minded, she defends very well, too, and she’s kind of like a cheetah on the outside; she can run and is probably one of the fastest players on our team so I’ve got a lot of trust in her when she’s healthy to play a lot of different roles.”
“I do love that flexible role; I love making the runs up top, so anything to help out the team I’ll do,” Brescia said.
Hackett has been the go-to on offense, leading the team with three goals and one assist over the first four games in her inaugural season in the red and black.
“I’m excited to get to play with friends who I’ve played with growing up and who I’ve played with throughout high school and club,” Hackett said. “And my family and friends getting to come to my games is the best feeling when the people you love you’re playing with, and they get to watch you play.
“It literally feels like we just picked up right where we left off. A lot of us play in a summer league together also, so we’re getting touches together all summer, which definitely helps.”
“We had the connection back in high school, so I’m thankful for the opportunity to play with them,” Brescia said. “I’ve been playing with Emma since I was eight years old, so we go back, and our chemistry keeps building and building.
“It was the plan to come (to Roberts) together. We wanted to continue playing together so we planned it out perfectly. And now that we have Hackett with us, she can add a lot of scoring opportunities.”
And an added bonus was Hackett being named East Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week after she factored in on three of the four goals the Redhawks scored opening weekend.
“Everybody was on their stuff for Homecoming and the games that we’ve had so far,” Hackett said. “It’s a tough, busy schedule…but just looking forward to the next game and what we can do to progress and be better.”
“Spencerport is basically a factory here locally; they do a good job with that program and every player that comes out of there seems to be productive,” Vieira summarized.
Photos by Noelle Natale
