What once was a dream, a distant fantasy, the Miller Place Panthers hope is now the norm.

“That is a goal of ours to get back in the playoffs,” said Miller Place coach Tom Veryzer.

GARRET MEADE PHOTO | Miller Place senior Kayla Ceschini (19) scored one goal in Wednesday's 3-2 loss at Mattituck.

The Panthers have reached the postseason two years in a row, both times losing in the opening round to Kings Park. While the Panthers lost five strong players from last year’s team, they return a group that’s more than capable of making it three straight playoff trips for Miller Place.

“We have to put a lot of pieces together,” Veryzer said. “We need people to step up.”

The Panthers got their first action Wednesday in non-league, falling 3-2 to Mattituck, a team that’s usually among the top Class B schools (Miller Place is Class A). The game was tied at 2 before the Tuckers scored with about a minute left for the game-winner.

Senior Kayla Ceschini scored one goal for Miller Place in the loss. She’ll be relied on to provide goals all season playing forward. Last year Ceschini got off to a hot start with five goals in seven games. But a concussion ended the rest of her season, which fueled her through the offseason to come back even stronger this year.

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Ceschini, who’s been a varsity player since ninth grade, is one of four captains for Miller Place along with Caroline Fitchett, Karysa Pikoulas and Cara Parisi.

Fitchett, a defender, and Pikoulas, a midfielder, were both All-League players last year. Pikoulas is in her fifth year on varsity. Junior Erin Johnson, a forward/midfielder, was All-League last year as well.

Fitchett will play sweeper, one of the positions the team needed to fill after Adrienne Spears, last year’s team MVP along with Emma Davis, graduated.

The Panthers have 12 seniors on the roster and eight juniors.

Their youngest player, eighth grader Danielle Bambola, may see some time in goal. She was competing for the job along with senior Hailey Bynon, who started against Mattituck.

“They’ve been splitting time,” Veryzer said. “And we’ll do that until we feel one of them has kind of pulled ahead of the other one.”

The Panthers haven’t been afraid of playing a compact style, looking for low-scoring games. Last year they had seven shutouts.

“We have a system, but part of our system is making adjustments to the team we’re playing,” Veryzer said.

The team had a lot of participation during the offseason and in the summer league, which the Panthers hope pays off as the season begins now.

“I think this was the best summer training we’ve had at every level: varsity, JV and junior high level,” Veryzer said. “It was exciting because they want to work hard and they are working hard. It’s just trying to put it together.”

The Panthers are back in League VI this year along with Sayville. The Golden Flashes are the favorite going into the season.

Miller Place opens the league season Tuesday at Amityville.

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