Hard work is price of perfection for Science

Last Thursday was the rarest of days for the Bronx Science girls’ soccer team.

A team that has advanced to the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) championship game in each of the past five seasons and that came into last Thursday’s contest vs. Riverdale Kingsbridge Academy toting a 6-0 record was in unfamiliar territory as an early first-half goal by RKA had put the Wolverines in a one-goal hole.

Unfamiliar, because it was the first time all season the Wolverines had trailed in a game as they entered this game having outscored their opponents, 35-1, on the season. But good teams, or excellent ones in Bronx Science’s case, always find a way, and on this day a four-goal eruption in the second half eventually led to a 4-2 Wolverines victory as they kept their 2016 season record flawless at 7-0.

Just another day, another game, another victory for Bronx Science — the gold standard in PSAL girls soccer.

“This is my sixth season here at Bronx Science and I was very lucky to come into a talented program,” said Bronx Science coach Annie Eckstein. “We have a history of being competitive in the entire city and I’ve been lucky enough to work with great players and continue to push them and get to the finals the last five years. It’s taken a lot of work but it’s been my work and their work together.”

Since the start of the 2013-14 season, Bronx Science has compiled an overall 44-4 record and has already posted five shutout victories in its seven wins this season. And that’s with a green-as-you-get goalie in Victoria Phang, a basketball player by trade who was forced to take over the goalkeeping duties when Jenna Kolodny injured her hand earlier this season. Yet the Wolverines have yet to miss a beat.

“Jenna has been in goal for us the last three years but she got stepped on and stretched a ligament in her hand so she is unable to catch the ball right now,” said Eckstein, who played at Dartmouth and who is the mastermind behind the Bronx Science soccer machine. “We’re hoping by the end of regular season that she will be cleared and be comfortable catching the ball again. We’d really like to have her in goal for the playoffs.”

In the meantime, all Kolodny did last Thursday was score a pair of goals while sporting a small cast on her injured arm in the Wolverines’ victory over RKA.

“I only have two more weeks in the cast,” Kolodny said, obviously relishing the thought of returning to her net-minding duties.

But how does the Bronx Science program maintain its level of excellence year in and year out?  Hard work and lots of it, according to Eckstein.

“They really are driven. When I took the job and I started talking to the upperclassmen, their goal was the championship,” Eckstein said. “And they didn’t just want to make it to the game, they wanted to win that championship. So we built small goals in that first year. We decided the championship could not be the only goal, you have to do a lot before you get there. So, we worked on passing sequences, we worked on finishing, we talked about how we want to score goals and how we want to defend and we have just continued to do that.”

But despite all their successes, Eckstein and her players bristle at being called a dynasty, even if by definition they clearly are one.

“I would not use that word. I think a dynasty implies entitlement,” Eckstein said. “Certainly dynasties take work. But we didn’t inherit this, each year we’ve had to work for it. I think we built a strong program and we have an expectation of success and we have an expectation of also working for that success.”

Eckstein said the program’s success helps bring talented players to Bronx Science, but not all players who make up Eckstein’s team are aware of the program’s soccer pedigree. As you might guess, academics are first and foremost at Bronx Science, but the school does benefit from landing students who are talented both in the classroom and on the soccer pitch.

“Some freshmen come in knowing that we won the championship last year or that we’ve been there for the last few years and some of them come in because they just want to go to Bronx Science and they happen to play soccer but they are not as aware of the history,” Eckstein said. “Since Bronx Science is not capable of recruiting any players we depend solely on students who do well enough on the [entrance] test and decide to come to Bronx Science for reasons beyond soccer. We get lucky that we get a lot of girls who are very talented in soccer but I think our only recruiting tool is our past experience, our success.”

There is a delicate balancing act Eckstein and her team must navigate during the season, however. With games played two to three times a week and practices on non-game days, the players must use what little free time they have to handle their heavy school workload. But it is a challenge they all say they are prepared for each season.

“It’s definitely tough. But there is always a lot of support from everyone,” said Kolodny, a senior. “The younger girls always have the older girls to help them out if they don’t know how to do a math unit or a science unit or whatever.”

Meleni Rahaman, who scored two goals in Bronx Science’s championship game victory over Beacon last year, said each day consists of a full schedule of class work and soccer and it can be difficult for the younger players.

“I’m pretty used to it because other than this soccer, I play club soccer, so all year I do this,” said Rahaman, who also had a goal in the victory over RKA. “But sometimes you have to stay up later to finish your school work. It can be kind of a grind but you just have to learn to manage your time.”

Eckstein, who juggled soccer and studies at Dartmouth, understands the demands on her players and reworks her team schedule as much as she can to accommodate her student athletes.

“These girls are not just involved in soccer, she said, “they are involved in speech and debate, they are involved in other academic clubs like the National Honor Society and then they have a large load in terms of their studies. They are also prepping to take their SAT and ACT tests to go on to college. So there is a lot that they have to balance.”

Through it all, the Wolverines continue to thrive. After last Monday’s 3-2 victory over LaGuardia, there are only four games remaining in the regular season and the Wolverines, now 8-0 and outscoring their opponents, 42-5, on the season, have designs on a sixth straight visit to the PSAL championship game in November.     

“I definitely think we have the skills and the players on the team, so... I think we have a chance to get back there again,” said Rahaman.

Bronx Science in the PSAL championship game has become almost an annual rite of autumn, right up there with the fall foliage and hot apple cider. And here’s a note of concern for the Wolverines’ opponents the rest of the way — Kolodny thinks the best is yet to come for this year’s Bronx Science team.

“We’re still trying to figure things out like how we got scored on twice [by RKA],” Kolodny said. “If we put in the work we’ll definitely be in the championship game. I think we really have the opportunity to be just as good if not better than last year’s team and the years prior.”