The Rye High School girls soccer team is heading into their semifinal game against Pearl River tonight, after battling through injuries that resulted in the team’s first loss this season.
The pre-Halloween match up between the Garnets and the Pirates is expected to be a close contest. The teams tied earlier this year.
The semifinal game comes as the team is still recovering from multiple injuries over the last few weeks, which head Coach Rich Savage said contributed to the team’s first loss of the season against John Jay East Fishkill, 2-1, on Oct. 19. The loss, and the 1-1 tie with Pearl River back on Sept. 12, are the only games keeping the varsity girls from a perfect season.
“It was a good game but unfortunately we lost,” Savage said about the John Jay game. “I think physically we were tired and not ready for the game.”
Before the Oct. 19 loss, Rye won back-to-back shutouts on Oct. 16 and Oct. 18 — beating Harrison 4-0 and Arlington High 1-0. And since the John Jay game the squad has regained traction — with a 4-0 senior night win against Byram Hills on Oct. 21, a déjà vu 4-0 win over Byram Hills again on Oct. 25, and a 1-0 win against Pelham on Oct. 28.
The team has also clinched its ninth-consecutive area league title.
“It just shows the hard work of all the girls,” the coach said. “The girls have won a league title since 2016 consecutively, which is a very impressive stat.”
Savage said he hopes more of his injured players will be back on the field for the late postseason — or the “second season,” as the team calls it.
Four of Rye’s top contributors — junior Parker Calhoun, junior Clare Nemsick, senior captain Bowyn Brown, and senior Lyla Keenan — have all missed games because of injuries, mostly muscle strains, he said. Savage said he’s still waiting to see if starting goalkeeper Tessa Labovitz will be cleared to play Pearl River tonight.
“Anything can happen and we’re hoping to get healthy,” he said.
The Garnets will square off against Pearl River at Rye High School on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
