Whitman boys soccer takes Suffolk Class AAA title on Alex Del Priore's late winner vs. Connetquot

From about 16 yards away, under the Wednesday night lights at Patchogue-Medford, Alex Del Priore was about to have a forever moment — scoring the winning goal in a county championship game.

The senior forward took his shot and the ball went into the net, and Whitman owned the lead with 12:24 left.

The third-seeded Wildcats held on with some spectacular help from junior goalkeeper Jayden Castro to claim a 2-1 win over No. 4 Connetquot for the Suffolk AAA title in boys soccer.

“Ever since I was a freshman, this has always been the dream,” Del Priore said after Whitman secured its first county crown since 2018. “And, of course, we can go further, but this is the start.”

Now these 13-5 Wildcats will go after the Long Island championship. They will face Nassau champ Syosset at 6 p.m. Saturday at Farmingdale State. The winner will be bound for the final four in Middletown.

“We returned a lot of guys from last year, so we knew we had a lot of guys coming back,” coach John DiGiacomo said. “We had a young man who transferred in from Huntington, Jerson Contreras, which helped solidify us in the back a little more . . .  We knew we were pretty talented.

“Hey, listen, we had our struggles throughout the year. But we’re starting to play some good, hard soccer. Hopefully, that helps carry us upstate.”

Connetquot ousted Brentwood, the top-seeded defending state champ, in the semis and had its chances in the final. But this team had to settle for making it there and for putting together a terrific 13-3-1 season.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of the guys,” coach John Zambriski said. “They came to work every day. We had an excellent run.”

David Sanchez deposited a penalty kick for Connetquot to even the match at 1-1 with 14:51 remaining.

But then Del Priore stepped forward and beat Connetquot’s standout senior goalkeeper, Dean Burchard.

“The ball came to me, shot it,” Del Priore said. “As soon as I saw it go past the line, adrenaline just started rushing through me. I went to the crowd. I don’t even know what happened after that.”

After that, Castro made a diving stop with a little less than five minutes left. He had also robbed Connetquot of a goal earlier in the half.

“I was really locked in the game,” Castro said. “I spent the whole day listening to music.”

Michael Mannino did his part, too. The senior midfielder scored his team-leading 15th goal with a first-half blast.

“Michael as a player is class,” DiGiacomo said. “He shows up each and every time . . . He’s a finisher. He can do it all on the field.”