2005 All-Long Island Girls Soccer

BY ERIK BOLAND | STAFF WRITER
November 16, 2005
A look at the girls soccer players who stood out on Long Island high school varsity squads in the fall of 2005.

MEGHAN BERLINGO
Sacred Heart, Goalkeeper, Junior


Meghan Berlingo, with six shutouts, led Sacred Heart to an unbeaten regular season. Berlingo, who had 11 shutouts in 2004 as Sacred Heart won the CHSAA state title, played aggressively in the goal and excelled in stopping one-on-one situations. There were simply no easy goals scored against her. The three-year starter has begun looking at several Division I colleges.


CAROLINE BONEPARTH
Lawrence Woodmere Academy, Midfielder, Senior


Caroline Boneparth had 22 goals this season, leading Lawrence Woodmere Academy to its first victory – and a second one later - over Long Island Lutheran in program history and a spot in the PSAA final. She has flown under the radar much of her career but legendary North Carolina coach Anson Dorrance saw something, which is good enough for us. Boneparth is the first girls soccer player from Lawrence Woodmere Academy to make Newsday hifive! All-Long Island.


NICOLE CAVALLARO
New Hyde Park, Forward, Junior
 Cavallaro missed half her sophomore season with an ankle injury, yet still scored 14 goals. She was healthy this season and responded with a team-best 31 goals and 16 assists. She could score in traffic, she could score one-on-one, just about any situation, really, which was evidenced by back-to-back hat tricks against Valley Stream Central and Oceanside on Sept. 20 and 22. In NHP's next game, Sept. 29 against Clarke, Cavallaro rang up four more.


GINA DiMARTINO
Massapequa, Midfielder, Senior


One opposing Nassau Conference I coach called Gina DiMartino a "sniper" when it came to her ability to fire the ball into the net. The coach meant it as a term of admiration. DiMartino had 19 goals and 10 assists, helping the Chiefs to yet another conference and county championship. There were few better at controlling the ball in the open field or in traffic. She will play next season at Boston College.


MOLLY DRESKA
South Side, Midfielder, Senior
 Molly Dreska, who is Maryland-bound and was a Newsday hifive! All-Long Island pick last season, played wherever coach Judi Croutier asked, which was just about everywhere. Dreska played games at midfield, at forward and at sweeper; sometimes all in one game. She stood out, regardless of position. Dreska, All-Nassau three years running, had two goals and eight assists this season.


AKILAH DUGGAN
Brentwood, Midfielder, Senior
 It was easy to pick out Akilah Duggan on the field. She was the player with three, sometimes four, players around her. Anywhere Duggan went, that's where opposing teams followed. Duggan was tireless, "She could be on the boys field and outrun half of them," said coach Dan Danbusky. Other than Caroline Boneparth at Lawrence Woodmere Academy, Duggan was the most unheralded player on the Island. But Penn State noticed, so should we.


KELLY EAGAN
Smithtown West, Midfielder, Senior
 The statistics don't suggest much – three goals, seven assists – but the uber-unselfish Kelly Eagan rarely took the field and wasn't the best one out there. Sometimes dazzling footwork allowed Eagan to dribble around, and through, the opposition. Eagan, who will play at Villanova, scored the game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Northport that sent Smithtown West to the Suffolk Class AA final. It seemed sometimes like she could do anything she wanted with the ball.


MELISSA GIMPEL
South Side, Midfielder/Forward, Senior


Melissa Gimpel finished her career with 36 goals and 24 assists, including 12 goals and 10 assists this season, both team highs. The totals aren't eye-popping but one must consider the overall scoring balance evident on just about every South Side team. Gimpel, who is headed for Boston College, found a way to put the ball in the net during the Cyclones' run to the Class A state title last year and has done again this post season.


GRACE HAWKINS
Northport, Forward, Senior


Grace Hawkins missed all of last season with a torn ACL – she had 21 and 22 goals her freshman and sophomore seasons, respectively, – and responded this year with 12 goals and five assists as Northport captured the Suffolk League II title for a second straight season. Hawkins in the open field was always an impressive sight. She will play at Villanova next fall.


BRITTANY HENDERSON
Commack, Goalkeeper, Senior


Brittany Henderson, a starter in goal since her sophomore year and a Newsday hifive! All-Long Island pick last year, finished her career with 33 shutouts. Commack made its first Suffolk final in 2004 and advanced to the semifinals this season. She averaged two assists per season, a remarkable feat for a goalkeeper. Some of Henderson's performances were often described as "head-shaking." That phrase usually came from opposing coaches. Henderson will play at Loyola (Md.).


KELLY HENDERSON
Baldwin, Midfielder, Senior


Kelly Henderson, a Newsday hifive! All-Long Island pick last year, had 10 goals and four assists for Baldwin, which struggled this year but not because of Henderson. In brutal Nassau Conference I, Henderson was the focal point of the opposition, a testament to her considerable foot skills and ability to put the ball in the net when unattended too. That didn't happen too often. Henderson is headed to Boston College on scholarship.


JESSICA HERRMANN
Islip, Midfielder, Junior


Jessica Herrmann had a pretty impressive sophomore season with 12 goals and 14 assists in being named Newsday hifive! All-Long Island. Followed that up with an even more impressive junior year with 15 goals and 16 assists and leading Islip to its first Suffolk title since 2002. Herrmann earned Suffolk League V Player of the Year honors as a sophomore and was tabbed by Suffolk coaches this season as the Small Schools Player of the Year. Scary what she might accomplish next year.


LIZ HILLIN
St. Anthony's, Defender, Senior


As injuries felled many of the Friars top players this season, the George Washington-bound defender helped hold things together. Liz Hillin's toughness and speed allowed her to mark the opposition's best scorer and she always seemed to be around the ball. Hillin also helped consistently clear the ball out of the St. Anthony's end of the field to jump-start the Friars offense.


KIM MILLER
Farmingdale, Defender/Midfielder, Senior


Kim Miller had six goals and six assists this season, totals that no doubt could have been higher had she not been so valuable on defense. Miller often was called on to mark the opponent's top offensive player, a role in which she excelled. There were few quicker players on the Island. Miller earned a scholarship to South Carolina.


MELISSA PASCARELLA
Sayville, Forward, Senior


Melissa Pascarella is a three-year starter who had 17 goals and 11 assists this season as Sayville advanced to the Suffolk Class A final. Overall in her career, Pascarella finished with 55 goals and 39 assists. Pascarella had a penchant for taking on the scoring load when necessary, balanced with the ability to find open teammates. Side-winding kick from about 20 yards that momentarily tied this year's Class A final against Islip was a beauty.


HANNAH SKLAR
Massapequa, Defender, Senior>

Hannah Sklar, a speedy defender who is headed to George Mason, anchored one of the Island's best defensive units. Her season was cut short when she broke her left leg prior to Massapequa's final regular-season game of the season but not before Sklar became one of those rare defenders who stood out on the field as much as any offensive player.


MARISA VIOLA
Mattituck, Goalkeeper, Senior
 The shame of Marisa Viola playing on the far eastern end of the Island was few put in her the discussion of top goalkeepers. She should have been. Viola had 11 shutouts as a junior and added 15 this season, including nine straight heading into the postseason. Tremendous anticipatory skills as Viola often times seemed to know where an opposing shooter was going before the shooter did. A big reason why Mattituck made another run at a state title.


COACHES OF THE YEAR


JIM MAGYAR
New Hyde Park


Jim Magyar, 227-112-18 in 21 seasons as coach, led New Hyde Park to a 14-0 regular season and the Nassau Conference II title, his ninth conference crown. Though his team lost, 1-0, to South Side in the Class A semifinal, it does not diminish the fact that New Hyde Park was the only unbeaten and untied team on the Island during the regular season. With Newsday hifive! All-Long Island pick Nicole Cavallaro returning, expect this team to win its share of games next year, too.


JULIE GICK
East Islip


Julie Gick, in only her second season, guided a young East Islip team to the Suffolk League III title and, more impressive, to its first county championship in program history. There were few believers even as East Islip clinched the No. 1 seed for the Class AA playoffs but that changed with a 2-0 victory over Commack in the semifinals. A 1-0 victory over Smithtown West followed in the final and, seeing that East Islip has just two seniors on its roster, more county title appearances don't seem out of the question.

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