Whitman boys soccer beats Syosset in OT thriller to claim Long Island Class AAA title

Michael Mannino lined up for a Whitman corner kick with just over four minutes left in the in the first Golden Goal overtimes and one could feel a buzz travel through soccer stadium at Farmingdale State on Saturday night. Mannino had been a dangerous threat to Syosset all evening, but never as lethal as those spots on the field’s corners.

His kick went to short side of the goal to Jamith Jimenez and Syosset goalie Miles Nevins – who’d been trying to ward off the relentless Whitman assault since early in the second half – slid over to that side. Jimenez, his back to the goalmouth, lifted a shot backward over his head and it caromed into the far side of the goal with 4:04 on the clock.

That score brought an end to what can only be described as an epic back-and-forth Long Island Class AAA championship game and gave the Wildcats a 5-4 victory.

“I practice that shot all the time and practice makes perfection,” Jimenez said. “Michael is so good, I knew he’d put the ball right on me.”

Whitman (14-5) rallied from a two-goal deficit with three unanswered goals in a span of just under 27 minutes and went ahead 4-3 when Alex Delpriore was in the right spot at the right time when Nevins turned away a Mennino shot and scored on the rebound.

Syosset (10-2-6) got only one real scoring opportunity after taking the 3-1 lead in the 42nd minute on Xavier Paltz goal from eight yards out. It made the most of it when Jack Pendrick zeroed in on a ball that came out of a scrum on one side of the goal and into the center of the box, drilling it in to the left side of the net to knot the score 4-4.

“I have to say that for us, there was never a doubt we were going to come out on top,” said Mannino, who had three assists on corner kicks and scored a goal on a penalty kick in the first half. “When they scored to tie it, it was a shocker. But we showed how relentless we can be in the second half and that wasn’t going to stop.”

“We have the ability to be dynamic and put pressure on,” said Whitman coach John DiGiacomo said. “Once we got the momentum, we kept the momentum.”

The Wildcats are Long Island champions for the second time and first since 2015. They advance to a state Class AAA semifinal at Middletown’s Faller Field on Saturday at 5:45 p.m. where they will face Fairport of Section VI. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.

Syosset got first-half goals on a Xavier Navarro header off a Pendrick drive where he lost a shoe as he approached the end line and still got off a centering pass and a Cole Maguire direct kick from just outside the top of the box. It led 2-1 at halftime, though they went into the break disputing a second Maguire goal that officials said came an instant after the clock expired.

The Pultz goal seemed to set off a fight-or-flight response from Whitman and thus the assault began. A Mannino corner was redirected to the goal on a header by Jerson Contreras. Another Mannino corner kick resulted in Anthony Reyes Santos scoring the game-tying goal with 18:31 left in regulation.

Syosset’s Nevins was outstanding in spite of the five goals allowed, making 16 saves, many of them requiring cat-quick dives.

“People thought we were making a mistake by having (Mannino) on the corner kick because he’s big and athletic and likely to get to most corner kicks. But after a few times of seeing him do it, we had to stick with it. He puts the ball anywhere he wants.”

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.