Last season was a difficult one for the Highland girls’ soccer team.

The Huskies lost their JV team and have been suffering from a lack of numbers since; and a year after reaching the Section 9 Class B championship game in the COVID-19 spring season in early 2021, the Huskies had struggled to a 1-15-0 record in the fall season just a few months later.

Heading into this season, the Huskies lost three players from last year’s team, Marissa Korzeniecki, Maggie Petty and Bridgette Carle.

“It will take some time to build our program, so this season I just want to concentrate in taking those steps,” second-year coach Heather Bragg said.
The Huskies will return seniors Macayla Goodenough and Ava Mazzetti. They will be joined by several underclass newcomers, including freshman Ava Acampora and eighth-graders Kaylee Arciuolo and Gabriella Gemmell.

The landscape of the Mid Hudson Athletic League also changed this season as Our Lady of Lourdes came into the league and Section 9 this season, moving the Huskies to Division 3. Marlboro will remain in Division 2, and under the MHAL format, Divisions 2 and 3 do not play each other during the regular season.

Therefore, Marlboro and Highland are not scheduled to meet in 2022. The Dukes’ division will include Lourdes, Red Hook and Rondout Valley, and Highland joins a division with Ellenville, Spackenkill and Onteora.

“I am excited to see how we do in our new league,” Bragg said. “I think the new girls coming in have a good foundation that will help us progress as a team.”

The last two seasons also have been rough for the Marlboro Dukes as well. They didn’t field a team in the spring 2021 team, and several of the girls played for the boys’ team. They reconvened in 2021, but also struggled.

No other information was provided.