Segalla leads HVRHS soccer team to 7-0 record

FALL VILLAGE — Sydney Segalla may only be a sophomore, but her skill, experience and knowledge of the game make her the main weapon for Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s talented girls soccer team. 

The Mountaineers sit atop the Berkshire League standings and have rattled off seven straight wins to start the season. 

An All-Berkshire League and All-State striker her freshman year, Segalla has transitioned into the team’s center-midfielder role. Although it may affect how often she scores, it is a move with which she is comfortable.

“I don’t mind it, because it’s benefiting the team and we have enough strikers already,” Segalla said. 

With Segalla facilitating out of the middle of the field, the team has flexed its muscles on both offense and defense, with a goal differential of plus 27. She said the team’s strong suit has been passing and communication as they near the halfway point of the schedule. 

Segalla is the younger sister of Lauren Segalla, a junior forward for West Virginia University who holds many records in Housatonic’s program history. Sydney said that along with helping the team win championships, she finds motivation in chasing her sister’s accomplishments. 

Last season, she surpassed her sister’s record for most goals scored by a freshman, netting 18 goals during the campaign.

Above all, following in her sister’s footsteps has helped guide her toward her dream of playing at the next level. 

“[Her experience] helps me with recruiting; my Dad knows what she went through and knows how to help me through everything because he has already done that.”

Segalla said a few new rules have been put into place with the recruiting process, including players not being able to verbally commit to a university until June going into their junior season. 

Coaches also cannot voice their interest in having a player commit to their school until June as well, she said; they can only invite a player to a school-run soccer camp to indirectly express interest. 

“I went to a Wake Forest camp over the summer, so I’d say that was the top one,” Segalla said when asked which schools have shown the most interest. She also said her dream school would be Duke University. 

When not playing with Housatonic, Segalla plays for CFC United, which is a part of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL). The team, based out of Southern Connecticut and made up of the best players from across the state, allows her to showcase her talents before Division I college coaches at tournaments all over the country. Her team has competed in locations as distant as Texas and southern California.

The Lady Mountaineers look to maintain their perfect season with a pair of away games against Terryville on Oct. 15 (after this issue of The Lakeville Journal went to press) and Northwestern on Oct. 17. They have already defeated both teams earlier in the season.