2024 State Champion Byron-Bergen and 2023 titlist Spencerport find themselves in familiar territory near the top of the respective girls soccer classes in the September 23 New York State Sportswriters state rankings. They are joined by 2018 state champ Kendall and 2004 Sectional winner Churchville-Chili.
Byron-Bergen (7-2-0) was ranked second in Class C, but that was prior to their recent loss to Kendall (10-1-0), who was tied for 20th but will likely rise after beating the Bees 2-1.
Spencerport (7-0-1) was third in Class AA followed by Churchville-Chili (8-2-0) at 15th.
Kendall is getting offensive contributions from multiple players, but senior goalkeeper Brooke Rodas has allowed only six goals through 11 games with five of those coming in a loss to Class AA St. Mary’s from Long Island. She stood fifth in Section V in goals against at .53 with support from junior Addison Kludt at center-back, junior Keara Reed on the outside with sophomore Brynn Hardenbrook.
Offensively, sophomore Ryleigh Denning and junior Sophia Picardo were among the top 30 in all of Section V in scoring with 31 and 30 points, respectively. And eighth-grader Jersie Drake chipped in five goals with four assists. Senior Alea Barrett, classmate Stella Kwiatek, and junior Olivia Sawyer each had two or more goals through the first 11 games.
“I think this year is our comeback year after losing in Sectional finals last year; we regrouped, we rebuilt and now I think we’re stronger than ever,” Picardo said. “We have a really strong offense and one of the better defenses in the whole GR (Genesee Region) and I would say all of Section V.
“We only lost four seniors, I think, and I knew from the beginning that we were going to be strong.”
“Denning has picked it up within this past year; we had a key player leave and she’s just covered the hole,” third year head coach Angel Rosario said. “She has stepped it up, has a great left and right foot on her, which makes her very dangerous player, and she’s not selfish—she’ll find a teammate who can make a better play at the time.”
Seniors Mia Gray (University of Florida commit) and Grace DiQuattro lead the Byron-Bergen attack and both are among top ten in Section V with 51 and 38 points, respectively. The Bees are getting secondary scoring from eight-grader Anastacia Kuszlyk (6-4), senior Elizabeth Starowicz (2-10), and sophomore Genevieve Smith (3-3), with junior Rylee Burch allowing just over one goal per game.
Spencerport was paced offensively by senior Emily Peacock’s nine goals with sophomore Ryan Smith, seniors Carley Oakden and Liana Tata, and freshman Sydney Wyant all scoring at least twice through the first eight games.
Freshman Elise Faix stood among the top 25 in Section V with 11 goals to lead the Churchville-Chili in scoring with help from seniors Alexis Olsen (6-4) and Avery Aloi (3-1) and junior Ava Fedele (3-2). Senior Jillyan Ewing was tied for the team lead with four assists and chipped in a pair of goals.
The regular season ends in mid-October followed by the Section V playoffs and state championships.
