STAC GIRLS SOCCER: OWEGO LOOKING TO COMPETE WITH BIG NUMBERS, NEW COACH (2025-08-27)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — The Owego girls soccer program is bursting at the seams with players this season. That’s good news for Katelyn Simpson, who is stepping in as the varsity coach.

Laurel Evans, the head coach since 2022, is on maternity leave from the pitch, and her high school teammate is a familiar face with many of the players, having spent the past nine years with the JV and modified teams.

The River Hawks have 20 players on the varsity roster this season and more than 60 in the entire program, “the most we have had in years,” Simpson said.

Top returnees include junior forward Ashlyn Dalton, who accounted for 63 percent of the team’s goals last fall, and sophomore defender Leah Clark. Both players were STAC Central/East all-stars. Dalton was also the Tioga County Sports Report "Offensive Player of the Year" and named an all-region all-star by The Sports Reports.

“Ashlyn Dalton is coming off of a great season with her travel SDA (Syracuse Development Academy) team who won nationals this summer in Virginia,” Simpson said. “She is excited to bring that effort, energy and mentality to the team this season.”

Forward Keira Henry and defender Jenna McEvoy are a pair of sophomore newcomers whom Simpson hopes can help the team improve on last season’s 7-7 record (6-5 STAC).

“A few freshmen and 8th-graders will make an impact on the team when needed as well,” Simpson said.

Graduation took a handful of standouts from the River Hawks, so there will be some big holes to fill to get back to the playoffs..

“We lost Bella Silvestri (Central/East all-conference), Cadia Fain (Central/East all-conference), Kayla Coppage (Central all-division), Liz Reigle (Central all-division) and goalkeeper Olivia Dodge to graduation,” Simpson said. “They all played major roles in our success the past few years, but I am confident in our younger talent to fill their shoes.”

Silvestri, Fain and Reigle also received Tioga County Sports Report and The Sports Reports all-star honors.

Simpson believes the team is looking forward to the upcoming season.

“We’re excited about the 2025 season and the growth we’ve made since last year,” she said. “This is a very talented group of girls who are developing strong chemistry and share the same goals. They’ve been working extremely hard, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they can accomplish together.”

Owego will see some strong opponents, including two games each against Section IV Class A champion Chenango Valley and Class B winner Waverly.

“We have a lot of competition this year, especially in our division,” Simpson said. “Chenango Valley, who we have always competed with in STAC and sectionals in the past, Waverly, a newer team in STAC, Chenango Forks and Susquehanna Valley should all be great competition again this season.”

Owego begins the season Thursday night at home against Susquehanna Valley.

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IN PHOTO 1: Katelyn Simpson, who has been with the program since 2016, takes the head coaching position this season. IN TOP PHOTO: Leah Clark is an up and coming star. IN PHOTO 3: Ashlyn Dalton won a national title over the summer and scored 17 of Owego’s 27 goals last year.

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