{"id":128578,"date":"2025-09-11T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/?p=128578"},"modified":"2025-09-11T12:34:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T16:34:06","slug":"swr-soccer-team-devotes-season-to-beloved-coach-gilmore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/2025\/09\/128578\/swr-soccer-team-devotes-season-to-beloved-coach-gilmore\/","title":{"rendered":"SWR soccer team devotes season to beloved coach Gilmore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the surface, to the unknowing eye, the matchup between Miller Place and Shoreham-Wading River on Tuesday afternoon was just a regular girls high school soccer game at Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field. But for those on the field and in the stands, it was as emotional and heart-wrenching as it gets \u2014 anything but normal.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the last 13 years, Adrian Gilmore<\/a> was a compelling fixture on the sidelines for the Shoreham-Wading River girls soccer team. The beloved coach, who impacted every girl that ever stepped foot in the program, won multiple Suffolk County and Long Island championships<\/a> and one New York State title. She built the soccer program from the ground up to one of the most elite and feared teams on Long Island. Her passion and intensity for the game she loved bled through every minute she spent with the girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A memorial made with cups in front of the SWR athletic fields serves as a reminder of Coach Gilmore. (Credit: Nicole Wagner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And for the first home game in a very long time, Gilmore was only there in spirit. A sign with her picture, honoring her memory, was displayed along the fenceline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 22, while coaching lacrosse, Gilmore, 42, suffered a medical emergency and later died, leaving the Wildcat community grieving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all were in shock,\u201d SWR assistant coach Brian Ferguson said, who coached alongside Gilmore since 2016. \u201cIt took me a very long time to process what happened. She was one of my closest friends. I still haven\u2019t come to terms with it but being on the field again brings a sense of normalcy to my life and it\u2019s what she would\u2019ve wanted me to do. That\u2019s why I decided to come back and continue to coach. I want to keep building what she left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A month earlier, Lydia Kessel, a former SWR goalkeeper under Gilmore, who went on to star at the University of Vermont, was at the high school preparing a presentation for a job opening and ran into Ferguson by chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI instantly texted Adrian,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cI wrote, ‘You wouldn\u2019t believe who I just ran into at the school.’ She instantly texted me back with ‘Who’ with a million exclamation marks. When I told her it was Lydia, we both started brainstorming and thought she\u2019d be a perfect candidate for JV coach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t say no,\u201d Kessel said, with a tear rushing down her face. \u201cI never could say no. Adrian was the type of coach you would do anything for. I accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Gilmore\u2019s unexpected passing, Kessel was asked to take over the program to continue to honor her legacy. It\u2019s a position she doesn\u2019t take lightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just want to make her proud,\u201d Kessel said. \u201cShe was a major influence on my life, starting as a little freshman. She taught me not only how to be a great athlete but also a great teammate and person. I want to continue her legacy here. She is Shoreham-Wading River soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A week into preseason camp this season, Ferguson opened up his facebook and a memory came across his screen. It was an article of Lydia making the game-winning save at the University of Vermont, and Gilmore had tagged him in it and said, \u201c’That\u2019s our girl!’ To me that was like her way of saying that she\u2019s watching,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cShoreham-Wading River Soccer was always about being a family. That\u2019s what she always placed the biggest emphasis on. And Lydia taking over the program is like keeping it in the family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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