Mohonasen girls' soccer showing no hesitancy in pursuit of Section 2 title

ROTTERDAM – It took exactly 18 seconds Tuesday afternoon against Schalmont for the Mohonasen girls’ soccer team to put its stamp on the Route 7 rivalry game.

Off the opening kickoff, a few slick passes through the midfield got an attack going, and as soon as star junior midfielder Ella Mullin found a sliver of space, she unloaded a 35-yard shot that Schalmont goalkeeper Brandee Marks had no chance of stopping.

It wasn’t just the tone-setter in what ended up as a 5-0 win, but a statement of intent from a Mohonasen team that’s determined to show no hesitancy in its pursuit of a Section 2 Class AA championship this fall.

“Our whole team,” Mullin said, “came into the game ready.”

A year ago, Mohonasen entered the Class AA playoffs as the No. 1 seed with an unblemished 15-0 record, but the moment coach Clint DeMyer’s team ran into a squad from the Suburban Council, the previously perfect season ended with a 5-0 walloping at the hands of fourth-seeded Columbia.

With nearly the entire core of that 2025 team back in the fold this year, led by the superstar sibling duo of Ella and Maggie Mullin, Mohonasen is gearing its 2026 campaign toward being ready for that level of competition when sectionals arrive in October. DeMyer scheduled four games against Suburban teams this fall, with games against Class AAA’s Shaker and Colonie as well as Class AA games against Bethlehem and defending champion Niskayuna.

“Let’s go punch above our weight class a bit,” DeMyer said. “Really test ourselves. See where we are (so) that when we go into sectionals, we know what we’re going to see.”

So far, things are off to a good start. Mohonasen (5-0 overall, 4-0 Colonial Council) easily dispatched Colonie in its season opener earlier this month, and has won each of its Colonial matchups by at least five goals.

Through five matches, Mohonasen has outscored its opposition 29-2. Only Voorheesville, which tallied twice in the second half of a 7-2 Mohonasen win, has managed to score against Mohon this season.

“When we played Columbia last year (in sectionals), we looked like we were a young team,” DeMyer said. “When the going got tough, we kind of backed off. We didn’t take the game to them like we usually did. … This year, these first few matches, we’ve had some competitive games, and by the end we kind of open them up because we have that level of composure and maturity now.”

Mohonasen’s roster is young, with just three seniors among the team’s 17 players and a starting lineup that features four freshmen and an eighth-grader. But, most of those youngsters have at least a year of varsity experience and an on-field maturity that belies their age.

“We had a young team (last year),” Ella Mullin said. “We’ve just kept building it. … I think we come back every year more motivated.”

While the team as a whole is youthful and has plenty of time to bring championships back to Mohonasen, there’s an extra sense of urgency for seniors like midfielder Jordyn Edwards for whom this season is their last chance for a high school title.

“It’s super important,” said Edwards, whose team plays La Salle on Thursday. “We’re trying our hardest to keep it going.”

The uber-talented Mullin sisters are the engines that get Mohonasen going.

Maggie Mullin, a freshman, has the freedom to roam in the attack and already has seven goals and four assists this season, following up from a stellar 28-goal, 16-assist campaign in her eighth-grade season.

Ella Mullin, a junior who has verbally committed to the University of Wisconsin, has surpassed 200 combined goals and assists during her storied varsity career. This year, DeMyer dropped her deeper into midfield, allowing the older Mullin sister to take more control over the flow and tempo of games.

“It’s really the type of player she is,” DeMyer said. “She’s sacrificed. She’s playing a line deeper this year. … Sure, her numbers might drop off a bit, but the team’s success is all she cares about.”

But the role change hasn’t hampered Ella Mullin’s production too much. She scored twice against Schalmont, adding a left-footed screamer from the top right corner of the 18-yard box in the second half to complement her opening-minute strike, and has 11 goals through five games.

She’s also got nine assists, including two against Schalmont. The biggest smile that came across her face, though, during the game against the Sabres may have arrived not after either of her goals, but after her free kick in the waning moments. It could have completed a hat trick for Mullin, but smashed off the crossbar – and fell to the feet of junior Gianna Pfister for an easy tap-in.

Freshmen Reese Smith and Nyla Lewis also scored Tuesday.

“The thing about Ella and Maggie is they don’t really care about their numbers,” DeMyer said. “They really just want everyone to succeed, whether they’re scoring goals or they’re giving Reese or Ryleigh (Wyld) or Nyla the opportunity to score. They just want to put the ball in the right spots.”

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This article originally published at Mohonasen girls’ soccer showing no hesitancy in pursuit of Section 2 title.