By Joseph Staszewski
Aimée Kasmally was in noticeable pain.
She limped off the field late in the first half holding her side and grimaced after every long run for a through ball, still showing no hesitation for challenging a charging goalkeeper. With 2:45 left in a 4-1 win over host St. Mary’s Oct. 12, Kasmally was hit hard by a defender and was doubled over in pain on the field.
“Once I kind of fall on it, if I hit it in the wrong spot it kind of hurts a little,” Kasmally said. “It’s still really sore.”
The freshman, though medically cleared to play, isn’t fully recovered from injuring her ribs in a win over Mary Louis Sept. 23. She missed three games. Her ankles have also been bothering her, but she stays out there and wants to play as much as possible.
“I can’t sit out,” Kasmally said. “Sitting out isn’t something I do. I try to play through it as much as I can, knowing that at the end of the game I will be able to relax and know that I did the team something good.”
She has been better than good lately. Terriers Coach John Jenkins shuffled his lineup, which has been hit with injury, recently. He moved freshman Gina Baglieri to center defender, Michelle Mongelli to sweeper, Francesca Rossi to defense and Kasmally from defense to forward because of her athleticism. It’s a position Kasmally played mainly growing up.
“She creates more opportunities for us to go forward and she gets shots off,” junior midfielder Maria Canicatti said. “That help us. We can put the ball over the top and we know she will get to it.”
Kasmally, who plays club ball for the Little Neck Thunderbolts, has scored in each of her two games up top. She and Canicatti, the team’s main offensive threat, are starting to develop chemistry and a confidence in each other. Kasmally headed in a Canicatti cross for the Terriers’ second goal Monday and tried to connect on long through balls. Her speed allows St. Francis Prep (3-5-2) to stretch the field and make defenses have to defend her speed.
“I haven’t played forward in awhile,” Kasmally said. “I like to run, so forward is a good position for me.”
She is about doing what is best for the young team that is off to a slow start, even if it means playing through pain against girls two and three years older than her to do so.
“She hung right in there,” Jenkins said. “She thinks she is the toughest.”
Reach Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@nypost.com.
