Junior Caroline Mitek Leads Parade of Post-Season Honorees

Junior Caroline Mitek, who tallied 21 goals and six assists, claimed All-County honors to lead a parade of eight post-season award recipients for the Huntington High School varsity field hockey team.

“Caroline has superb stick skills and is a leader on the field,” Blue Devil head coach Kathy Wright said. “She creates opportunities for us to score.”

Sophomore middie Ava Bencivenga (6 goals; 8 assists) and senior lead defender Sofia VanArsdale captured All-County Honorable Mention honors.

“Ava has amazing endurance and speed and is able to continuously transition the ball up the field,” Wright said. “Sofia was our leader on defense and had powerful low stops in every game.”

Eighth grade dynamo Charlotte “Charlie” Kindelmann (1 goal; 4 assists) garnered All-Classification recognition. “Charlotte is a skilled strong rookie for our team,” Wright said. “She’s an impact player in all areas of defense and offense.”

Junior Sophie Hoffman (3 assists) and senior goalie Kathleen Cocoman (99 saves) were named All-Division. “Sophie has great sticks skills and is able to be an impact player as either a middie or forward,” Wright said. “Katie is fearless in goal. Her dives, slides and stops were amazing and kept us in every game.”

Sophomore Alexa Wasoski (2 goals; 1 assist) was Huntington’s Unsung Hero Award recipient. “Time and time again she recovered the ball and sent it back up to the offense,” Wright said.

Junior defender Elliot Manu was named to the All-Tournament team. VanArsdale was also tapped as All-Academic after compiling a weighted academic average in excess of 105 during the first marking period.

The award winners will pick up their respective honors at the county field hockey dinner on December 9 at East Wind Caterers in Wading River.

Freshman Norah Golden (5 goals; 5 assists) also enjoyed a splendid season. “Norah was an impact player at forward and defender,” Wright said. Sophomore Cassidy Harris scored a goal and displayed “amazing speed and endurance” the coach said. Sophomore defender Shea Gilroy was another key contributor.

The Blue Devils compiled a 9-7 record and reached the playoffs. The team was captained by Mitek, Cocoman and VanArsdale. Allison Conlon assisted Wright on the sidelines.

“One of our biggest accomplishments was beating sixth seeded Bay Shore in a league game, 1-0,” Wright said. This huge win made us eligible for a playoff seed. We knew we needed a win with a top team and this was it.”

Huntington is graduating two players in Cocoman and VanArsdale. The rest of the team returns, including six post-season honorees as well as several other promising underclassmen.

“Abby Uvena will move in the starting goalie position and we will have some strong sophomores filling into defensive and offensive positions,” Wright said. “Maya Schneider, Fran D’Eloia, Greenlee Stanford, Shelby Meystrik and Luisa Mackey as well as Bella Bernzweig, who will be a junior. We will also have a group of incoming freshmen joining our team and helping us get into a playoff position again.”

Looking back over the fall season, Wright was pleased with the team. “It was a young team with a lot of heart, led by two senior captains that loved their teammates,” she said. “It was a great group of girls that played for the love of the game. It was a team that played to the last whistle and got stronger and better each team. It was an absolute joy to coach each practice and game. It was a team that was determined to get to a playoff spot and it did!”