Whitman boys soccer eliminated from state Class AAA semifinals in penalty kicks
Whitman's Gavin Supek (13) challenges for the ball against Fairport's Timothy Donner (24) during a state Class AAA semifinal in Middletown on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. Credit: Adrian Kraus
MIDDLETOWN — Whitman suffered the unkindest cut in the last game to finish on Semifinal Saturday at the state public school boys soccer championships.
The Wildcats and Section V champion Fairport staged a heated battle in their state public school Class AAA semifinal. They went through 80 minutes of regulation, a pair of 15-minute overtimes and then both went 3-for-5 in the first stage of penalty kicks to remain deadlocked.
And on the first turn at sudden death penalty kicks, Whitman’s nine-game winning streak and drive for a first state title since 2015 came to a painful ending.
On the sixth penalty kick at Faller Field, Whitman’s Nicholas Verdi had his shot stopped by Red Raiders goalie Nolan Geib and Fairport’s Austin Stephany beat Wildcats goalie Emerson Castro (who came on for Jayden Castro as the game went to penalty kicks).
The Whitman players collapsed to the turf where they stood as the Red Raiders celebrated in front of their bench.
The final score goes in the books as 1-1, but Fairport (14-0-4) advances, 4-3, on penalty kicks and will play Section II champion Shaker (16-2-1) in Sunday’s 1 p.m. state championship game on Middletown High’s Turf Field. The Blue Bison beat Scarsdale of Section I, 2-1, when Owen Brant scored with 3:43 left in regulation.
As Whitman filed out of its locker room, many red-eyed, Wildcats star Michael Mannino stopped and said, “It’s penalty kicks and sometimes in soccer, it comes down to luck.”
“Nobody wants to see a team lose that way — penalty kicks are tough and it’s a terrible way to have a season end,” Whitman coach John DiGiacomo said. “We had a very good second half. We put a lot of pressure on them . . . and created a lot of chances. I kind of felt like we’d put them up against the wall, but we couldn’t put the ball away.”
Whitman (14-5-1) might never have gotten to the overtime without a bit of good fortune in the first half. They got a 1-0 lead on a rare own goal by Fairport.
The play started with a Mannino free kick that was stopped by Red Raiders goalie Evan Furciniti, who played the 110 minutes and came out for Geib for penalty kicks.
The rebound came off his chest and right to the Wildcats’ Jerson Contreras, who rifled the ricochet back at the goal. His shot hit the post with such force that retreating Fairport defender Andrew Kohl could not get out of the way and it bounced off him and into the goal in the 16th minute.
Fairport managed to tie the score in the 33rd minute when Alexander Grejda redirected a Zachary Buys free kick from about 28 yards out into the goal to make it 1-1.
“It’s emotional and it hurts to just fall short, but they are etched into Whitman and Suffolk County soccer history and they should be proud of it,” DiGiacomo said.
“We would have loved to win and play the final,” Mannino said, “but what we created this season was not just a team, but a family. These guys will always be here for each other.”
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.