Newburgh girls’ soccer ushers in a new era

Posted 9/2/26

It’s a new beginning for the Newburgh Free Academy girls’ soccer team, and it starts with a new coach.

After leading the Goldbacks for 17 years, Dave Doulin has retired as the Goldbacks’ …

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Newburgh girls’ soccer ushers in a new era

Posted

It’s a new beginning for the Newburgh Free Academy girls’ soccer team, and it starts with a new coach.

After leading the Goldbacks for 17 years, Dave Doulin has retired as the Goldbacks’ coach, leaving the reins to former JV coach Mark Wenzel to take over the team. Wenzel has spent 11 years coaching on the JV level and will be assisted by Jennifer Grogan as the Goldbacks look to rebound from last year’s 1-14-1 season.

“I’m excited to move up from the JV coaching position to this new varsity position,” Wenzel said. “My assistant coach and I are eager to get to work with this year’s and future players. We’re looking forward to this group of competitive, hardworking athletes.”

Newburgh graduated six players from last year’s team: leading scorer Julia Lopez, Keylin Aleman, Sasha Peralta, Stella Caputo, Isabella Caipa and Genesis Merlin.

Despite the losses, the Goldbacks return several young players who are expected to play important roles this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Avery Claudio is back between the posts, while freshmen Alexa Balbuena, Yarumi Rivera and Kylie Garrison return at center back and midfield, respectively.

The Goldbacks will have plenty of youth throughout the roster, with eight underclassmen expected to contribute.

That inexperience has Newburgh focused on improvement and developing chemistry as the season progresses.

“We have a very young team,” Wenzel said. “We’re optimistic about improving and gelling as a young team.”

With a young roster and a new coaching staff at the varsity level, NFA will look to make steady progress throughout the season while laying the foundation for future success.

The Goldbacks took the field for the first time on Aug. 24 and had a week’s worth of practice before they were scheduled to visit the Marlboro Dukes on Monday for their first scrimmage of the preseason.

They also were scheduled to scrimmage at Valley Central on Tuesday before hosting the Onteora Eagles for a scrimmage on Thursday.
They will open the regular season on Sept. 10 when they host the Goshen Gladiators.