Mount St. Joseph Academy soccer team captains Charlotte Sands (left) and M.K. Maloney. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

Mount St. Joseph Academy’s booters are having to do some retooling after graduating eight players from the 2014 roster, some of whom were four-year varsity players. A couple of experienced defenders were lost, but at least the Magic have veteran goalie Charlotte Sands back in the nets.

Sands first stepped into the MSJ cage as a freshman, and this year she is team co-captain along with a senior classmate, scrappy midfielder M.K. Maloney. Maloney is one of two current seniors who have already made college commitments, although both she and Isabella Balcer are going to be playing lacrosse instead of soccer, Maloney at Old Dominion, and Balcer at Monmouth.

The other components of the Mount’s seven-member senior class are Meredith Bohner, Gabby Good, Meg Morrissey, and Jenny Murphy. One year below, Paige Comtois, Angela Gervasi, and Ashley Pyne are all going into their third season with the varsity squad, and one of their junior classmates, Kieran Glowacki, is the back-up goalie for the Magic.

Aly Carpenter, Maddie Finnegan, Regan Fitzgerald, and Julia Hawthorne are 11th graders who are moving up onto the varsity team, and three sophomores have been selected for the big show, Liana Alcaro, Maddie Feeney, and Caitlyn Vesey.

Within the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies, the Mount finished third last fall behind runner-up Gwynedd Mercy and longtime league power and defending state Class AA champion Villa Joseph Marie.

Catherine Culp is returning for her fifth season as the Magic’s head coach, and Mount faculty member Bill Nayden is back to pilot the JV squad. Entering her second season as an assistant coach is Mount and Norwood Fontbonne Academy alumna Mara Yanni.