Summer Soccer Wraps, Few Highlights

How much does summer soccer foreshadow how well a team will perform in the fall? Hopefully, in the case of the boy’s and girl’s soccer teams it bodes much better and is not a foreshadowing of things to come.

Both teams finished at the bottom of their respective divisions in the just concluded 2011 summer soccer season. Comsewogue combined for a 1-16-2 record through July 28 with the boy’s team posting a record of 1-7-1 and the Lady Warriors going 0-9-1 through the same date.

Furthermore, the Warriors garnered just five goals in the nine games played while the girls scored seven times in their ten games. Defensively the boy’s team yielded 21 goals, an average of 2.3 goals-per-game while the girl’s surrendered 41 goals or 4.2 goals-per-game.

Last fall the boy’s team went 8-4 in a new league and were 8-7 overall while the Lady Warriors finished the season with a 6-6 League IV record and were 6-8-2 overall. Both teams made the playoffs but neither ventured very deep in their postseason play.

So what happened this summer and what in fact, does Comsewogue’s summer play tell us?

First of all, let’s be clear. Not all those who play on the summer squad will be on the varsity team this fall. The summer teams are made up of a sundry of players from last year’s junior varsity and some varsity members among others. Still other players miss the summer season altogether because they opt to play club soccer or are involved in other activities or other sports. Therefore, a team’s record amassed in the summer does not reflect how a team will necessarily perform in the fall. But it is a fair barometer or is it really too early to tell?

“The Brookhaven summer soccer league is very competitive but it’s not an indication of how your season is going to be,” said Comsewogue head boy’s coach Dan Costello. “It’s a developmental program. It keeps the boys in shape and is another avenue or way for the players to play together.

“The majority of our summer team was made up of sophomores,” Costello continued. “Overall it was a mix of kids who are going to vie for the varsity team in the fall. When we won our two back-to-back New York State championships we didn’t win a summer league title.”

Comsewogue girl’s varsity soccer coach James Bentley is not the summer coach and therefore declined to comment on the summer performance by the Lady Warriors.

So everyone – coaches and fans alike – will have to wait until September to find out which Comsewogue team steps on to the field – the one that just completed a forgettable summer season, one resembling last year’s playoff contenders or a team somewhere in between.

The season begins Saturday, September 10 for both the girl’s and the boy’s.