Through thirteen games, including the playoffs, the Mimbas have outscored their opponents 67-5, showing not only Stuyvesant’s ability to score, but also their ability to play lockdown defense as well. Still, with 12 wins and one tie, the Mimbas have work to do after clinching the division against division rival Beacon on Tuesday, May 22 and a first round victory against the High School for Arts and Business on Friday, June 1.
The Beacon Blue Demons were the only team to give the Mimbas trouble this season. On April 30, Stuyvesant won the first match up, 3-1. In their second meeting, Beacon held on to force a 1-1 tie. To decide who won the division, the Mimbas faced Beacon in their season finale on May 22. The first half of this decisive game was full of offensive and defensive miscues for both teams. Two good shot opportunities for Stuyvesant were wasted right before the half. With a scoreless tie at halftime, captain and senior Dara Frank shot the ball over the head of junior goalkeeper and Blue Demon Sophia Lief in the beginning of the second half for what would eventually be the game-winning goal. The Mimbas went on to win by a score of 1-0.
After the game, captain and senior Caily Simmons was slightly torn about her last regular-season game. “It’s sad to play our last game, but it feels pretty good to win the division, and I’m looking forward to City Championships,” Simmons said.
As division champions, the Mimbas faced High School for Arts and Business in the first round of the playoffs. While there was more at stake, this game didn’t have the same intensity as the season finale against Beacon. Stuyvesant opened the game with a corner kick by senior Sabrina Baum that was later headed into the goal by junior Angela Khermouch. Later in the first half, Simmons set up sophomore Gabriel Beer for a goal to extend the Mimbas lead.
After several missed opportunities for the Mimbas, the Bulls tried to come back after they scored from at least 35 feet away from the goal to cut the lead to 2-1. Suddenly, the nonchalant attitude that had come with a seemingly easy game so far put the Mimbas in danger of losing the game.
However, the Bulls’ offensive ineptitude, combined with the Mimbas’ staunch defense provided Stuyvesant with the victory. Coach Philip Fisher said, “I thought we played very well. They had two shots on goal the whole game. If your defense gives up two shots on goal the whole game, I think you’re doing a pretty good job”.
This victory leads them into the next round against Midwood High School, another elite team that is seeded second in their quarter of the draw. Baum said, “[Midwood] is a good team that we’re playing. But I think that we can do it, definitely.”
The ability to make the championship is greater this year than last. In the 2005-2006 season, the Mimbas had a 6-5-1 record, finishing fourth place in their division. In last year’s playoffs, they lost in the first round to Staten Island Technical High School. Much of the success of this year’s team is attributable to the play Baum, Frank, Lochner and Simmons. All four have pushed the team to the next level, especially Simmons and Frank, who together accounted for almost a third of the team’s points. Fisher, who has coached girls’ soccer at Stuyvesant for 13 of the last 14 years, did not coach last year. After the June 1 playoff win, Frank said, “This win was really important for him [Fisher] because last year he couldn’t do it. By us coming back this year and winning it shows that he can coach and he can help us win.”
Fisher insists that this is his last year of coaching girls’ soccer. If true, it’s the end of a legacy since Fisher has coached the team for more than a decade. It remains to be seen how the team will respond to a different coach next year. Fisher said that his backup, whom he knows personally, will be able to coach the team competently and expects the team to react well. Fisher has reasoned that the wear and tear of coaching three teams with overlapping seasons has finally gotten to him after 14 years.
However, Fisher and the Mimbas are focusing on bringing intensity and pressure to the second round and eventually capturing the City Championship. The quarterfinal match against Midwood will be played on June 3 at New Dorp High School.