Girls soccer: After falling in state final, perennial power Rye wants the state title

RYE - Psst! Come close. Shield your screen or fold the newspaper to make sure nobody is reading over your shoulder. Because we’ve obtained confidential information about the Rye girls soccer team, including its recipe for success.

Here goes: chicken, rice, black beans, cheese, guacamole and sour cream, with some variation on lettuce and pico de gallo. In a bowl and/or burrito.

Now, to the average person, that might seem like a food order that holds no significance and has no correlation to performance. And, umm, it probably doesn't. But these state title contenders will argue otherwise.

“There’s soccer, school, then Chipotle,” midfielder Charlotte Keenan said, gesturing with her hand to indicate the hierarchy of priorities. “It’s pretty important.”

Not the restaurant itself, but the fact it’s been adopted as part of a post-practice ritual for a group that considers camaraderie its greatest strength. By regularly sharing meals and frozen yogurt — and each other’s company, more importantly — teammates turn into close friends and their bonds become covalent.

See, their formula is based in chemistry. And that has nothing to do with science.

“We spend every day together and that’s huge,” senior Clare Nemsick said. “Us being that close makes everyone feel comfortable and want to do their best on the field for each other. Obviously, we love to win, but we love being around each other even more.”

Rye does produce an abundance of talent and there are established skills-development programs, coach Rich Savage acknowledged. But that emphasis on togetherness is woven into the team culture and it’s helped them maintain success as a perennial Section 1 power, offsetting the loss of standouts with a seemingly smooth incorporation of new players.

The Garnets reached the Class A state final last fall, a year after claiming the crown, and their star-studded roster still is headlined by Charlotte Keenan, an offensive dynamo committed to Notre Dame, and Emory-bound goalkeeper Tessa Labovitz. But the group did graduate nine seniors, several of whom played key roles, and Nemsick is the only returning starter to their back line.

The center back likely will be flanked this season by Julia Carballo and Hannah Jachman, an athletic sophomore who shined last year as a forward and now will be a “jach” of all trades.

“The success builds upon itself,” said Savage, a longtime coach who’ll be inducted into the New York State Girls High School Soccer Hall of Fame on Sept. 6. “We’ve had success in the past and the younger players want to experience it for themselves. We want this to be their favorite sport, their favorite time of year. So, we don’t define success as just winning, but from them coming together.”

Names to know

Tessa Labovitz, Sr., GK; Charlotte Keenan, Jr., M; Clare Nemsick, Sr., D; Hannah Jachman, So., D/F; Ryann O’Donell, So., M; Julia Carballo, Jr., D

Schedule

Sept. 3: vs. Pelham

Sept. 6: vs. Nardin (Buffalo) at Niskayuna High School

Sept. 7: at Niskayuna

Sept. 9: at Eastchester

Sept. 11: at Ursuline

Sept. 13: vs. Scarsdale B

Sept. 15: at Harrison

Sept. 19: at Pelham

Sept. 27: vs. Eastchester

Sept. 30: at Pearl River

Oct. 4: at Albertus Magnus

Oct. 7: vs. Harrison

Oct. 10: vs. Ursuline

Oct. 11: v. Byram Hills

Oct. 14: at Byram Hills

Oct. 16: vs. Arlington

Takeaways

Rolling through the sectional and regional tournaments and falling short by a goal in the state final is as painful an ending as an elite team can endure. But, Keenan insisted, a silver lining accompanied their 2-1 loss to New Hartford.

“We really wanted to repeat (as state champion),” the junior said. “But, honestly, adversity is what we needed. Now, there’s a chip on our shoulder because we have something to prove again, wanting to get back what we lost.”

An additional challenge for them is managing the weight of expectations. Because of the Garnets’ dominance locally and the reputation they’ve earned in recent years, in the eyes of observers and even their own, only great is good enough.

“There’s a lot of pressure on us,” said Nemsick, who intends to play soccer and lacrosse at Bucknell University. “We have three college commits, so that comes with its own pressure to perform, and our past success. But we have to forget about it because it’s a new season, and just focus on each moment.”

Keenan totaled 25 goals and 10 assists last fall, earning Westchester/Putnam Player of the Year honors. And, even after a prolific season, Savage said, she is among the players most motivated to improve because, “especially when your season doesn’t end with a win, a competitor wants to get better.”

Rye’s defense last season held opponents to 0.43 goals per game and notched its 16th shutout in the state semifinal. The bar is set awfully high there and it’ll obviously be a difficult feat even to approximate.

“We’ve got a lot of people moving into different positions, but they’re all really skilled and can adapt,” said Nemsick, an all-section star who has helped anchor the defense since her freshman year. “Communication will be key, getting everyone on the same page, but I have faith in us.”

Talking points

“The biggest thing for us is going in understanding that you haven’t earned anything,” Keenan said of their approach. “Every year it’s a new team, a new dynamic. Everyone has a job and role they need to fill.”

Stephen Haynes covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Section 1 girls soccer: Rye, with reshaped roster, seeks a state title