EMILY THOMPSON (21) is a scoring threat for the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High girls varsity soccer team.

Be careful what you wish for.

The St. Patrick-St. Vincent High girls soccer team got its wish last season, winning the Tri-County Athletic League’s Stone Division championship for a second straight year. As a reward, the Lady Bruins have been promoted to the Rock Division, the premier division in the TCAL featuring much tougher competition.

“Now we get to play with the bigger teams,” said SPSV head coach Javier Martinez. “It’s gonna mean tighter games against teams that are much more talented. No game is going to be easy.

“But I feel we’re a middle-of-the-pack kind of club. I think we may be better than some of the teams in this division. It all comes down to being aggressive every game.”

The good news for the Lady Bruins is that most of the players from last season’s 11-5-2 playoff team have returned. Senior Ryann Miguel, who led the team with 16 goals last season, opted not to come out for soccer this year. Filling the scoring gap are senior Kristina Ruble and juniors Emily Thompson and Chole Lindemann, who combined for 24 goals last season. Ruble was an All-TCAL Stone First Team pick in 2013-14 while Thompson, Lindemann and returning defender Mia Passalacqua were Second Team picks.

“The team is back and I’m happy with that, and we have some super-talented freshmen that I’m happy about,” Martinez said.

Destiny Desamito returns as the team’s starting forward, with veteran Gracie Quintos at offensive midfield. Thompson and Ruble hold the wings while Lindemann joins senior Elliana Levin as defensive midfielders.

Junior Sarina Levin was the team’s backup goalkeeper last year but has locked down a spot as a starting defender, joining Passalacqua, senior Kayla Middling and junior Ana Abughazaleh on the back line. Sophomore Cydney Hampton, who played varsity volleyball for SPSV last fall, takes over as the starting goalkeeper.

Freshmen to watch include Skylar Jacobs and Savannah Massa.

“They’re very quick and they have a lot more ball skills than I thought they’d have,” Martinez said.

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