Ward Melville girls soccer stays on a role, finishes season undefeated

The majority of players on the Ward Melville girls soccer team don’t know the feeling of walking off a varsity field with a loss. Maddie Costello isn’t one of those players. And she remembers everything from that contest.

Costello was rushing to the field after her church confirmation. She quickly changed into uniform and ran onto the field before a playoff game. She remembers it being cloudy, dark and rainy, seemingly a sign of things to come.

“I remember the nerves and almost the shakiness of everyone not knowing what was happening,” Costello said. “It was almost like the calm before the storm. The first half was the calm and the second half was when everything blew up. And then the terrible feeling afterward.”

Ward Melville lost 3-2 to Smithtown West in the Suffolk Class AA semifinals on October 30, 2021 after having a 2-0 halftime lead.

It’s been 1,089 days since that contest and Costello and Ward Melville haven’t experienced that terrible feeling since.

After a 6-0 victory over Whitman on Tuesday, the Patriots have the longest streak of games without a loss (57) for a public school in Long Island girls soccer history, according to Newsday records. Sadie Pitrelli scored five goals and Keira Hunt had the other. 

Ward Melville finished the regular season at 14-0-1 with Tuesday's victory. The Patriots have gone 50-0-7 since the start of the 2022 season and won two state championships. South Side had the previous record of 56 games from 1999-2002, going 52-0-4 before a loss in the state Class A final.

“It’s actually absurd to think it’s been almost three years,” said Costello, who is committed to play at Clemson. “That’s crazy. I could have never imagined this.”

“I think this is a pretty nice honor that we’ve been able to stay undefeated this many games in a row considering how crazy soccer can be,” coach John Diehl said. “Anything can happen. But they’ve been so consistent.”

Senior goalkeeper Kate Ronzoni has been on varsity since the eighth grade and remembers being in awe of all the talent at an early age.

“Right as I got onto the field as an eighth grader, I knew we were going to do some amazing things,” Ronzoni said. “And now standing here as a 12th grader is a full circle moment that what I expected in eighth grade is now happening in 12th grade.”

Ward Melville is seeking its third straight state championship this season. If the Patriots achieve that, it would mean a third straight undefeated season.

“It’s always something in the back of our heads, but we would like to focus more on what we’ve done to get here,” Ronzoni said. “But of course, if we do it again, that would be amazing.”

Ward Melville won its first state title in 2022 in a 17-0-3 season, winning in Class AA. The Patriots went 19-0-3 last season to win the inaugural state Class AAA crown.

It’s taken a tremendous amount of talent, both still on the team and graduated, to go 57 games without a loss.

Ellie Munoz, who now is a goalie at Molloy, was the starting senior goalkeeper in 2022 and remembers seeing all the young talent on the field during her senior year and knew something special was happening within the program.

“They definitely have a good chance at [winning] three times in a row which would be crazy because before this, my senior year was the first year we won states,” Munoz said. “Seeing how far the program has come is great to watch from the outside and from being a part of that program as well.”

Peyton Costello, Newsday’s Player of the Year last year, has been tracking her sister, Maddie, and the team during her season playing at William & Mary. She said last season the team felt the weight of chasing back-to-back undefeated state championships and that she’s “impressed” with the team’s success amid that as a possibility again. Peyton even Facetimed after Tuesday’s victory.

“I know it’s hard because even last year I felt the pressure that we had to win because I felt we were in the spotlight, so now after two years of winning I feel like they have even more pressure on them,” Peyton said. “Not that they would fold under pressure because they are so good, but I think that pressure’s really hard to deal with sometimes and I’m really proud of them for managing it and still being the top team.”