She played under one coach and with another.

Now their peer, Kris Komisarek rolled out the welcome mat for the second straight year for her former mentors.

You see, Komisarek played under local legend Peter Lally, who has spent the last 36 years maintaining a perennial girls soccer powerhouse at Manchester Central.

Last year, she took the head coaching reins at West High School from Michelle Winning, a former Lady Blue Knight standout who left West to accept the same position at Bedford High School. Winning was a senior captain during Komisarek’s freshman year at Notre Dame.

Now, instead of the once familiar green, Komisarek is clad in blue. She’s crossed over to her formal high school rival. But that doesn’t mean she’s taking the responsibilities of the job any less seriously.

In fact, she’s not only maintained the annual West High School girls soccer preseason jamboree, but this year she expanded it to include teams from classes M and S, in addition to the traditional squads from Classes L and I. Lally and Winning’s squads, of course, were at the top of her invite list.

“I was recently talking to (Lally) about the golden years when I was a great player (at Central), and he said he now foresees me being a great coach,” said Komisarek. “But I told him, ‘You know, it started with you.’”

It wasn’t just acquaintances of Komisarek who were invited to the jamboree, however.

Dan Wyborney, coach of the Memorial girls soccer team for the last eight years, said the West jamboree offers many opportunities to evaluate your squad.

“It’s obviously very important so that we can find out – especially with the new kids coming in – what they can bring to the table this season,” said Wyborney. “You can see it in practice a little bit, and scrimmages are nice, but it’s also nice to play two games in one day at a jamboree so you can see the way the new-bees and the returners play together and where your fitness level is at, as well.”

Moreover, he added, the jamboree offers players the opportunity to test their mettle against top competition from other classes, a chance they rarely receive during the regular season.

Central
In 2007, Central carried a 15-0-1 record and No. 1 seed into the playoffs, but the Little Green were upset by Pinkerton, 2-1, in double overtime of the Class L quarterfinals. This year, the Green return 10 players, and 36-year head coach Peter Lally said his squad is prepared to make another run at the title.

“If they play up to their (talent level), I think they can be as good as last year,” said Lally. “If we stay away from injuries, we’ll be fine.”

Included on this year’s squad are Hooksett’s Liz Belanger, Sarah Barnes, Lindsay Johnson, Abby Wurtel, Jillian St. Pierre, Amanda Davis, Jane Kelly, Deven McKiernan and Sarah Velasquez, and Auburn’s Jillian Graff, Tory Lund, Jordan Muse and Cassandra Muse. The Muse twins, Belanger and Keily Funk captain this year’s team.

Memorial
Returning nine starters from a team that reached the state semifinals in 2007, Wyborney said he’s optimistic about the upcoming season.

A handful of Auburn standouts, including sophomore goalie Ashley Gendron and senior midfielders Desirae Van Rossum and Chantel Van Rossum lead the team.

“We love having the Auburn girls in the program,” said Wyborney. “It’s nice because they’re really the only ones coming in from a feeder program in middle school, so they usually have a good amount of experience by the time they get here.”

The Lady Crusaders also bring back senior Katie Roberge, Class L’s leading scorer for three years running, as well as Lauren Bernard, Emily Menafra, Chelsea Kirker and Shaun Simpson.

West
After finishing fifth in Class L in 2007, the Lady Blue Knights graduated 10 players but return 10 seniors.

Among those returning are Bedford’s Heather Harrington, Cassie Barnard, Meagan Bellemore and Kelsey Connors.

This year’s soccer season marks the last for Bedford players at West High School.

“If anything, this year is it. We’ve got to build this program up from scratch next year without the Bedford kids,” said Komisarek. “But I think it’s a positive thing in the long run because it gives those Hooksett and Manchester kids a chance to step up.”

Hooksett juniors Dani Ithier and Alyssa Nelson lead that charge. They combine with the aforementioned Bedford quartet and six other seniors to headline this year’s squad.

“I think any team in Class L has a chance, but these kids on this team ... It’s in their minds and it’s in their hearts,” said Komisarek. “This is a strong team that’s worked hard on team bonding.”