The South Hadley girls soccer team secured a 20-win campaign, a No. 1 seed in the MIAA Division 4 state tournament and a spot in the state championship game last season, but they ultimately came a goal short of their ultimate objective – a state title.

Though the Tigers lost eight seniors from that team, including Daily Hampshire Gazette Girls Soccer Player of the Year Lauren Marjanski, head coach Rich Marjanski is back in charge and said his team is gunning for another trip to the ‘ship.

“We’re not going to have a letdown year,” Rich Marjanski said. “We’re just going to go after every single team that we play.”

Since that run to the soccer state championship in November, some of the Tigers have built up even more championship experience. Taylor Bullough, Cara Dean and Maddie Soderbaum helped lead the girls basketball team to its own 20-win season and an appearance in the Division 4 title game in March.

South Hadley returns eight of its 11 starters, and although it will be difficult to replace Lauren Marjanski’s scoring (112 career goals) and Drew Alley’s goalkeeping, Rich Marjanski said the Tigers are deeper than they have been in the past.

A strong contingent of young players and a core group of returners sparked South Hadley to a 2-0-1 record in its jamboree against Tantasqua, Millbury and Minnechaug, in addition to a 4-2 scrimmage win over Westfield. Marjanski said the younger players are picking up the speed of the varsity game well.

“They’re starting to step up and realize that there’s chances of (them) being those pieces to the puzzle, which is great to see,” he said.

In the opener against Belchertown on Friday, South Hadley’s seniors led the Tigers on a comeback where they tied the match 1-1. They went on the road for a game at Agawam on Wednesday, and travel to Hampshire on Friday night.

Allison Fleury, who scored South Hadley’s lone goal in the 2-1 loss to Sutton in last year’s title game, returns after a 27-point season a year ago. She’s been effective at involving others and making her teammates better, Marjanski said.

All-State recipient Kate McArdle is back in the midfield, and everything runs through her, according to Marjanski. She was involved in almost every scoring chance against Belchertown.

“If anything is going wrong, if anything is going good, Kate’s going to let you know,” Marjanski said.

South Hadley returns its entire defensive line except for Alley, and Gwen Marion has separated herself as the leader of the group, Marjanski said. She’s been vocal during practices and games with freshman goalie Olivia Athas.

“Gwen came into this tryout year like a rock star,” Marjanski said. “She actually was the best player on the field the entire tryouts and the entire scrimmages.”

Marion, Fleury, McArdle and Soderbaum are South Hadley’s captains this fall.

Elsewhere in Hampshire County…

Belchertown is looking to build on its 8-7-4 campaign from a season ago in head coach Kyle Thibeault’s eighth year. Senior captain Maya Tellier tore her ACL as a sophomore and played with a minutes restriction last year, but she’ll be a full participant this season. That time on the sideline should help her this season, Thibeault said.

“Her being injured, she didn’t skip a beat of being involved,” Thibeault said. “I think that also helped her grow a little because she saw things from a different side, almost like from the coaching side.”

Fellow senior Mia Corish was the Orioles’ leading scorer her freshman year and scored the last-minute game-winner to knock off South Hadley 3-2 in the 2021 western Mass. Class B championship game. She has drawn a lot more focus from opposing coaches the past two seasons, Thibeault said, and he’s looking for her to play a large role for the team again this season.

Junior Alexa Karabetsos is ready to step into the “workhorse” center midfield role that has been previously occupied by current American University player Avery Klingensmith and, most recently, Bentley player Maddy LePage. She’ll run the Belchertown offense this season. Brianna Ribeiro played winger last season and sparked the team from the starting lineup and the bench. Morghan Litz scored a few game-winners last season as a freshman, and Thibeault expects her to receive more attention from opposing coaches this year.

Northampton has been building back since the pandemic, and head coach Vanessa Butynski thinks the Blue Devils can take a step this year thanks to a large crop of returners. She said she was able to focus on some advanced concepts during preseason camp.

“We had a good team dynamic last year,” Butynski said. “But they’re one year older, one year wiser, one year physically and mentally more fit.”

Northampton won its opener convincingly against Granby 8-1 on Tuesday, led by a hat-trick of goals from Olivia Busone and a hat-trick of assists from Olive Little. Willow Claps improved considerably in the offseason and will lead the attack up top alongside Busone and Little. 

Senior captain Ally Busone and freshman Hattie Lewis slot in at the two center back positions.

“They make a really nice pair,” Butynski said. “They accent each other very, very well.”

Ally Busone, Teagan McDonald and Eleanor Lewis are Northampton’s captains.

Hopkins Academy hopes to repeat its league championship from 2023, when the Golden Hawks put up a 13-4-3 record. Four seniors on the team have been playing since eighth grade. Hopkins will play on its new soccer field this season, which has larger dimensions than the field they used last year.

All-State selection Sadie Cyr will lead the Golden Hawks in the midfield.

“She dominated the center of the field no matter where or when we were playing,” head coach Vinny Catania said. “It was very rare that somebody got by her, and if they did, it didn’t happen twice.”

Returning leading scorer Helen Vissas is back in attack and midfielders Maggie Potter and Olivia Earle will also figure to play large roles this fall. Morgan Augustin is moving from defense to attack and has “taken it up a level” this fall, Catania said.

Easthampton is also looking to reclaim its league title after a 13-6 season last year. The Eagles are led by Raegan Delisle, Addie Barr, Christine Raymond and Samone Young.

Amherst ducked out of the state tournament in the preliminary round last year after a 12-5-2 season. Senior Madeline Hockman led the ‘Canes to a 7-0 season-opening win over Chicopee on Tuesday with four goals and an assist.

Granby advanced to the western Mass. Class D final last year and returns seven seniors on a large team. The Rams also bring back leading scorers Kalli White and Brenna Moreno, both sophomores.

Hampshire Regional made it to the Round of 16 of last year’s state tournament and ended with a 9-8-2 record. Isabella LeBarron, Delaney Cantwell and Lila Watkins are the Raiders’ captains and Shayne Moynahan, Addie Miklasiewicz and Libby Puttick are also expected to play starring roles.

Holyoke won 10 matches a season ago and returns a team filled with eight seniors and six sophomores. Leilany Figueroa and Kyra Lippman, both coming off of impressive outdoor track seasons, are two players to watch.

Smith Academy returns a quartet of seniors to a team that finished 13-4-3 last season. Senior Caitlin Graves will be gunning for 100 points this fall and junior Anna Scagel returns to lead the defense and the midfield.

Smith Voc turned in a dozen wins in 2023 and head coach Alicia Carter is back for her sixth season in charge. The Vikings started 2024 campaign with a 4-0 win against McCann Tech on Wednesday. Caitlin Willard netted a pair of goals for Smith Voc in the shutout victory.

Frontier finished 8-9-1 last season and brings on Lauren Sullivan, its JV coach for the past two seasons, to coach varsity. Senior captains Josie Fosnot and Claire McFarland return as well as the leading scorers from last year, Carly Robertson and Maddy Fagan.

Gateway welcomes Sophia Dobosz to the sidelines for her first year as head coach after Matt Bonenfant stepped down following his daughter Alexi’s graduation. Gateway begins its season on Sept. 9 at Pathfinder.