South Philly Review

One successful season does not make a storied program. However, those responsible for that campaign can enter the following year with enhanced confidence.

The girls’ soccer team at Ss. Neumann-Goretti, 1736 S. 10th St., starts its quest for continued good fortune Tuesday, with hopes of building on the program’s initial playoff splash.

Seventh-year coach Jim McBride will field a mature team focused on using its defense-first mentality to surpass last year’s achievements. The thrill initially began appearing in the playoffs. With most of his core players returning, McBride is looking to build on last season’s six victories and make playoff berths standard.

“We have a style of play that allows us to be in every game. We can certainly scare some teams,” McBride said of the 16 foes that await his Lady Saints.

Eleven of those opponents will come from the Philadelphia Catholic League, which has replaced its two-division format with a massive 13-squad arrangement.

“We will be competitive mostly because of our speed,” McBride said of his players, who practice and compete at the Southeast Youth Athletic Association (SEYAA) field at Seventh and Bigler streets, its home since 2008.

That speed should benefit the team as it looks to become one of 10 to qualify for the postseason. The 20 athletes share a mix of grit and positivity that McBride knows was in place even before they qualified for last year’s playoffs.

“They’ve always had good attitudes. Making the playoffs helped, but these girls are competitors regardless,” McBride, who picked up his coaching philosophy of “defense first, goals second” during his playing days at Father Judge High School in the city’s Holmesburg section, said.

He revealed more girls usually try out, but he is fortunate to have such a diverse bunch to rely on regardless of numbers.

“Other teams often cut more girls than we have try out,” McBride said, referring to sizeable schools’ abilities to replenish their rosters yearly.

What McBride has, however, is quite respectable. He returns three All-Catholic selections — senior midfielder Adriana Sciascia, junior midfielder Jennie Filippello and sophomore forward Karla Masciotro. The first two earned First-Team honors while Masciotro claimed a Second-Team distinction.

“What we might lack in skill, we offset with heart and desire,” McBride, who will add three players from Cardinal Dougherty, which closed in June, said. “However, the speed of our front six could match the speed of any team’s front six. When I came here, we were losing games 13- or 14-0. Those days are long gone.”

Since opening camp Aug. 16, he noticed his team lacks an attackable weakness. Many of his players busied themselves with spring league play throughout the Northeast and beach tournaments in the summer. Their dedication is key, as only the Catholic League champions will qualify for the November Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament.

Before summer gives way to autumn, McBride’s team will scrimmage today against South Jersey’s Kingsway Regional High School. Tuesday’s opener will be an away contest against Chichester, a challenger the Lady Saints earned a 3-1 victory over last season. Catholic League play begins Sept. 9. A week later, the girls will duel with Little Flower, which dumped them out of last year’s playoffs in a 4-0 match.

McBride easily recalls that game.

“We were down 1-0 with 10 minutes to go,” he said proudly.

Afterwards, he and Little Flower’s coach spoke about the competition’s quality.

“He told us we played well, and that’s a compliment because Little Flower is always loaded,” McBride said. “It is one of the powerhouses in the league.

“He told us we can play with anyone. We’re going to prove that comment right this year.”