About a month ago, The Journal News underwent a massive restructuring. Many people lost their jobs. Many others quit because they were at risk of losing their jobs.

When it was all over, the sports staff had been reduced significantly. That has forced us to change the way we cover sports at the professional and local [...]

You can find the complete boys preview by following this link.

You can find the complete girls preview, with top teams, players, and info about the season, by following this link.

The previews for girls and boys soccer will be in Sunday’s sports section. It will include top teams, players to watch, and questions about the season.

Yesterday I posted the new league alignments for girls soccer. I said that I thought they were the same for boys soccer. They are for the most part, with a few small changes.

I spoke to Section 1 director Jen Simmons today and got the official boys leagues. Here they are.

Conference 1
League A: Arlington, Beacon, John [...]

Section 1 has changed its requirements for teams to qualify for sectionals. This was motivated by the new league alignments, which I detailed in the previous post.

Now that league schedules are no longer motivated by school size, you will see a lot of big schools beating up on little schools. Teams that would have gone [...]

The leagues in all sports underwent unprecedented changes this offseason. Thank the economy. Last year Section 1 voted to arrange leagues based solely on geography. Seems the bus rides for some schools were too long and costing too much money.

So they threw all of Section 1 together and pulled out leagues based, for the most [...]

Hey all, there have been a couple fan rumblings about getting something on the blog, which means people are getting into soccer mode. That’s good.

You’ll get your wish tomorrow. The preseason coaches meeting is tomorrow at 6:30. I plan to be there. There should be plenty to talk about then. One of the things I’ll [...]

North Salem’s Brian Span has committed to play at the University of Virginia on a full scholarship. UVA is one of the most successful programs in the most successful conference, the ACC, in the nation.

This comes on the heels of his being named to the U-15/16 East Conference squad by the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. [...]

It was a surprise when Ron Hendrie won regional small-school coach of the year. So what do you call it when the regional award becomes a national award?

The North Salem coach was named just that by NSCAA/adidas, and he was as shocked as anybody. He went to St. Louis as one of several people up [...]

It’s not official yet, but it sure looks like Section 1 schools are about to undergo a massive league realignment.

And you thought sports was a refuge from the perils of the new economy.

It seems this recession has gotten its tentacles into high school sports as well, prompting a drastic response from Section 1 schools. Starting [...]

Class AA
First team
M — Jake Keegan, sr. John Jay East Fishkill-1
M/A — Tony Campagnano, sr. Guilderland-2
G — Josh Fribush, sr. LaSalle-2
M — Kyle Rogers, sr. Baldwinsville-3
M/A — Mike Reidy, sr. Webster Thomas-5
A — Tyler Hammil, sr. Clarence-6
A — Joseph Lopez, jr. Brentwood-11
M — Jimmy Nealis, sr. Massapequa-8
M — Ahkeel Rodney, sr. Elmont-8
M — Stefan Carter, [...]

Just got a call from North Salem coach Ron Hendrie. He received a missive, in writing, from NSCAA/adidas ordering him to inform the local media that he was named Region II coach of the year. Frankly I didn’t believe a word of it. Nobody likes to toot their own horn more than Ron Hendrie, so [...]

Three locals made the all-region team. Two, Lia Bellizzi of Rye and Stephanie Velez of Mamaroneck, were all-Americans. The third was Amy Marron of Westlake.

K    Emily Cota    Sr.    Upper Perkiomen High School    Pennsburg, Pa.
K    Angela Cristofolo    Sr.    Hasbrouck Heights High School    Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.
K    Alexis Gonzalez    Sr.    Hauppauge High School    Hauppauge, N.Y.
K    Alyssa Griffin    Jr.    [...]

Hey all, before I get into the all-star stuff, I just want to apologize to anyone who asked me about when the all-star section was being published. I’ve been telling people it was coming out Sunday, Dec. 14. Anyone who looked at today’s paper knows that’s incorrect. The all-star section, to my knowledge, has always [...]

The NSCAA, which hands out these postseason awards, divides the country into eight regions. Region II encompasses New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

Three local players—Brian Span of North Salem, Brian Rogers of Bronxville, and Greg Shaheen of Byram Hills—made the All-Region squad. Shaheen is the big surprise here since he kind of burst on [...]

The girls did the boys one better by getting two locals onto the All-America team. Lia Bellizzi of Rye and Stephanie Velez of Mamaroneck both made the elite national squad. Bellizzi’s selection really stands out. Even though she carried Rye to an unexpected state title, she’s only a sophomore. There’s always a bias against underclassmen, [...]

Congratulations to Bronxville’s Brian Rogers for being the only Section 1 player to earn All-American honors. It’s been quite a year for the senior striker, who put up ridiculous numbers while leading his team to a Class B state championship. This was a fitting capper. Only six players from New York State earned the honor.

Here’s [...]

I’m a little surprised that Francesca Kentimentos of North Rockland was only third team. From everything Jeff told me she was one of the best players around.
Class AA
First team
D—Erin Egan, sr., John Jay EF-1
A—Stephanie Velez, sr., Mamaroneck-1
G—Stephanie Reimer, sr., Suffern-1
M—Jen Mansfield, sr., John Jay EF-1
A—Whitney Frary, sr., Niskayuna-2
A—Chelsea Kuss, sr., West Genesee-3
D—Sarah Henderson, sr., Aquinas-5
M/A—Kim [...]

About halfway through the season I said North Salem had the look of a state champion. I was wrong by a game. The Tigers made it all the way to the Class C final, where they came up short against Red Creek. It was the first Class C team to beat them.

They didn’t allow a [...]