Cairo-Durham's McCabe Earns Patroon Conference Coach of the Year Honor

The honor, which was awarded through a conference coaches poll released earlier this month, was also given to Chatham's Shawn Willis

Cairo-Durham High School girls soccer coach John McCabe was named Patroon Conference Coach of the Year for the 2023 season.

The honor, which was awarded through a conference coaches poll released earlier this month, was also given to Chatham’s Shawn Willis, following his team’s co-league title with Greenville and appearance in the Section 2 Class B final.

For McCabe, someone who isn’t personally familiar with other coaches in the league yet, the award was a pleasant surprise.

“It was nice of them to recognize that the team got so much better, and I guess they recognize us now as a threat or legit contender in the Patroon so it’s pretty cool,” he said.

McCabe’s Mustangs finished 12-6 overall and 7-3 in the league, good for a fourth-place conference finish. The team’s season ended in a Section 2 Class B quarterfinal loss against Voorheesville, who was seeded second in the bracket while the Mustangs were seeded seventh.

Cairo-Durham found significant result-by-result improvement in 2024. After losing by 11 goals twice last year and finishing without a winning record, this season’s Mustangs outscored opponents 47-35. McCabe says the team used practices this season to figure out how to maintain possessions and get as many athletes as possible involved on offense.

“We just got [down] just everything about the teamwork aspect of playing together, passing and not turning it over,” he said. “That was a big improvement for the team.”

Additionally, three of McCabe’s players were given all-conference honors, including his daughter Aria, a sophomore midfielder and team captain, a first-team athlete who her father commended for her willingness to create opportunities for teammates.

“She probably would have had twice as many goals if she was a greedy, kind of [selfish] player, but more than half the time [when] she had the ball close to the goal, she would look for the pass and get it to try and get it to a teammate,” he said. “All the success of the team and working with these girls has been great, but I really cherish this quality time with her, knowing that in a couple years she'll be off to college, so I don't take it for granted.”

Cairo-Durham had two players on the all-conference second team, the first of whom was sophomore midfielder Nia DeRose, who McCabe said was awarded team MVP.

“She just makes an impact all over the field, and she has inhuman stamina,” he said. “She'll run for 80 minutes and never get tired and never lose speed or anything.”

The other second-teamer was sophomore forward Amanda Ramos-Rivera, who just finished her first year on the Mustangs.

“She was just super quick and has some really unique skills on the ball,” McCabe said. “When that girl had a shot, she would rarely miss.”

McCabe also mentioned freshman defender Michaela Wright for her contributions outside of the stat sheet, with her appearing on the Section 2 all-conference all star list which mentions 34 players between first and second team instead of the primary in-league list of 26, in addition to freshman Sadye Schneider, who was one spot short of the 34-athlete list in her first varsity season.

Cairo-Durham’s season result came with a roster where 14 of 20 players were underclassmen, something which gives McCabe and his team ambition for the future.

“We really want to try and win the Patroon in two years,” he said. “We have goals, and we have the players and desire to do it, so hopefully we can all keep working together and do some great things.”

Patroon Conference MVP: Ella Grupe, Greenville.

First team: Addi Perry, Chatham; Marsy Chudy, Chatham; Julia Reinhard, Greenville; Emersyn Grupe, Greenville; Karina Lezama, Chatham; Danielle Deering, Coxsackie-Athens; Caroline Kosich, Greenville; Haylee Spar, Maple Hill; Aria McCabe, Cairo-Durham; Ava Edmond, Catskill; Molly Gardiner, Greenville; Sydney Rogers, Maple Hill; Ella Cogliandro, Maple Hill.

Second team: Rylie Barden, Chatham; Ray Paw, Rensselaer; Adele Heuer, Germantown; Camryn Slater, Coxsackie-Athens; Alessia Salierno, Catskill; Morgan Crawley, Greenville; Oliana DeLuca, Chatham; Nia DeRose, Cairo-Durham; Olivia White, Catskill; Emily Moschini, Chatham; Avery Conrad, Coxsackie-Athens; Amanda Ramos-Rivera, Cairo-Durham; Caitlin Pullen, Hudson.