Uniondale, N.Y. – It has been quite a season for the Long Island Rough Riders’ women’s team.
They captured the Metropolitan Division crown with a 9-1 record.
They scored a USL W League high of 62 goals while conceding a division-low 14 goals.
And now they will put those gaudy numbers on the line in the W League playoffs. The Rough Riders will take on Vermont Green FC, an expansion team that also finished undefeated in its maiden season (6-0-4) in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. The winner will face the victor of the Virginia Development Academy-Eagle FC semifinal on Sunday, July 5.
Long Island’s attack is led by Kayleigh Goodrich (17 goals) and Luciana Setteducate (11), who are one-two among W League goalscorers. Micala Boex is eighth on the list with 10 goals. Boasting three players in double figures is rare in the league.
The Rough Riders’ offense was so potent that they never scored fewer than three goals in any of their matches, an impressive achievement at any level of soccer.
Just how did the Rough Riders get here?
Let’s take a look at the team’s amazing regular season.
The Rough Riders kicked off their season with four consecutive road matches. That hardly deterred the team from filling the net.
In their May 21 season opener, Long Island rolled to a 6-1 win at Manhattan SC. Chloe Shimkin led the way with a brace. Fiona Kilian had the honor of scoring the first goal of the season in the 14th minute. Lia Howard, Olivia Pearse, and Goodrich also added goals.
The team hit the lone speed bump of the campaign in a 6-3 defeat at Morris Elite SC on May 23. This time the roles were reversed as LI surrendered six goals in the rain at Frederick Douglass Field. The hosts took command of the match, tallying three goals within an 11-minute span. Howard paced the team with a goal and an assist. Pearse and Howard also put away their chances.
The Rough Riders returned to their winning ways, rebounding with a 3-1 victory over NJ Copa in Piscataway, N.J. on May 31. After the host side struck first, the visitors took control. Goodrich equalized on a penalty kick early in the second half. Goodrich, off a Mallory Anderson feed, snapped a 1-1 tie in the 75th minute before Kilian scored an insurance goal.
In their fourth consecutive road game, Long Island recorded its first clean sheet of the season in a 7-0 triumph over Cedar Stars in Tinton Falls, N.J., at the Capelli Sportsplex on June 4. Howard gave LI all the scoring it needed with an 18th-minute goal before things opened up. Goodrich finished with a hat-trick, scoring in her fourth consecutive game. Boex, Setteducate, Pearse also found the net. Goalkeeper Samantha Graf recorded her first shutout of the season.
Two days later, the Rough Riders celebrated their first home game of the season, avenging the loss at Morris Elite with a 3-1 victory over their rivals at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale, N.Y. on June 7. On a windy evening, the visitors drew first blood on Ella Cadigan’s fourth-minute goal. After that, it was all Rough Riders. On the half hour, Boex, off a Setteducate pass, knotted things up. Ten minutes later, Howard’s penalty kick snapped the deadlock. A minute into the second half, Olivia Jungkunst drilled a 40-yard rocket into the net for the final tally of the contest.
The Rough Riders tied for the Metropolitan Division lead with an imposing 8-1 home win over Manhattan SC on June 10. Goodrich secured her second hat-trick of the campaign, while Boex added two goals and an assist. Setteducate contributed a goal and set up another. Killian celebrated another tally and Baylee Canet scored her first goal of the year in the 88th minute.
Long Island’s winning streak reached five games as the hosts rolled to another big victory, a 7-0 result past NJ Copa FC at the Mitchel Athletic Complex on June 14. It was Setteducate’s turn to register a hat-trick, as she found the net four times. After she was fouled in the box, Setteducate converted the ensuing penalty in the 15th minute, and the Riders were on their way. Mallory Anderson and Kayla Pardini scored their first goals of the season, Boex added a goal. Goodrich had two assists. Keeper Ava Voynovich recorded the clean sheet as center backs Isabella Calabro and Pardini starred.
In their closest win of the season, the Riders rallied from a two-goal, second-half deficit, en route to a 4-3 win over Paisley Athletic at Harvey Field in Kearney, N.J. on June 22. LI tallied four unanswered goals to turn the game around in the final half. Pardini converted a penalty kick and Goodrich drilled a shot from just outside the box to equalize. Jungkunst gave the visitors the lead in the 82nd minute before Boex added an insurance goal.
Returning home for their penultimate match of the regular season, the Rough Riders continued to score seemingly at will in a 6-1 victory over Cedar Stars on June 24. Goodrich (one assist) and Boex lead the way with braces. Shimkin collected a goal and an assist. Setteducate had a goal, and Kilian set up another.
The Rough Riders entered their regular season finale as division champions as Morrie Elite dropped a 3-2 decision to NJ Copa. But that didn’t deter the team from celebrating behind a 15-0 home triumph on June 28. Setteducate paced the squad with four goals. Madison Abi Aoun, Elliana Dos Santos, Goodrich and Boex each recorded braces. Hailey Metzger, Kilian, and Anderson added solo goals.
Keepers Voynovich and Mia Hennely, who each played 45 minutes, split the clean sheet.