Lady Rams soccer drops 2 of first three games
September 6, 2023 at 11:28 p.m.
Lady Rams head soccer coach Danny Alvarado was stressed, but in a good way if that is possible.
His team had 46 players trying out for the varsity, enough to field both a varsity and JV team.
But the stress came from going into the season without an assistant head coach and no JV coach because the numbers were down last season, so much so that they had to drop the JV to make call-ups to fill out the varsity when injuries riddled the team.
Dual coaching role
So, while juggling a lot of balls in the air, Alvarado had to coach both teams and conduct both practices, something that may have contributed to the Lady Rams losing their opener against Harrison 6-0 away on Aug. 29 as the first Port Chester team to open the new fall season.
Then the Lady Rams bounced back by beating East Ramapo 5-0 last Thursday (8/31) in their first home game. And they looked good doing it with junior co-captain Gioiella Pastena scoring two goals and the other goals coming from juniors Daniela Lopez and Saidy Hernandez and senior Ashley Cortez.
Keeper Yarely Cruz, a senior, had seven saves in the first half while senior goalie Toby Sanchez came up with three saves in the second half.
Good and bad vibes
But then those good vibes turned to not-so-good last Saturday (9/2) with a 6-0 home loss to Brewster.
The outlook got better with the naming of two additional Lady Ram soccer coaches: Jonathan Garces as assistant varsity coach and Gabriella Cardoso as head JV coach.
Both are Port Chester alums familiar with Alvarado's coaching style.
And a less-stressed Alvarado was stressing the positives of a 1-2 opening to the new season.
Pastena steps up
"Pastena is already emerging as the heart-and-soul of the team," he said. "You can just see her confidence and the way she lifts the team with her presence. They look better when she is out there. And they play better."
He also praised the inspirational play of his three other co-captains: seniors Sophia Maldonado, Samantha Munoz and Valeria Novoa.
And he liked the way talented eighth-grader Mariana Torres was coming into her own, her self-assurance growing by proverbial leaps and bounds as she sees she can play—and play well—against varsity competition.
Roster depth helps
Even as his team is already starting to get banged up with injuries, Alvarado has the luxury of looking up and down his bench for skilled substitutes without having to worry about breaking up the JV. Because there is a lot of depth there in seniors Evelyn Aguilar, Deisy Herrera and Ariana Lionos and juniors Daisy Aguilar, Tamara Correia, Lucelly Espinosa, Kimberly Flores, Bianca Garcia, Alison and Daniela Lopez, Bridget Morocho and Leslie Reyes. Promising underclassmen include sophomores Britney LaTosa and Ashley Ramirez. And promising freshmen include Kelly Mendoza and Gianna Rende, the latter who is recovering from a skateboarding accident but should be back shortly.
The result is that Alvarado has a lot less stress now that he has coaching help. And he thinks the Lady Rams will continue to improve in their upcoming games scheduled against Suffern Tuesday (9/12) at home and Mahopac away Thursday (9/14) with their next home game the following Monday (9/16) against Alexander Hamilton, all at 4:30 p.m. By then he should have an idea whether he should start stressing out about the team's record.
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