Connetquot boys soccer wins its first Suffolk title with shootout victory
Connetquot keeper Tyler Moore makes the save on the Smithtown West shot in the Suffolk boys Class AA Finals, Thursday, November 3, 2022 at Comsewougue High School. Credit: George A Faella
No shots on goal in the first half. Three key players lost for stretches of the two overtimes due to cramps. The final 10 minutes of the extra periods played one man down. And then, after all that, the agonizing tension of a penalty kick shootout.
The road to a championship is rarely smooth. The road to Connetquot’s first boys soccer title was especially bumpy.
After Connetquot battled gutty Smithtown West through 110 minutes of the Suffolk Class AA championship to a 1-1 score, goalkeeper Tyler Moore put the Thunderbirds on the final stretch of that road when he batted away a penalty kick by the Bulls’ Jake Trama. Matthew Iparraguirre took them over the finish line with a shot into the top righthand corner of the net for a 4-2 win in the penalty kick round at Comsewogue’s Cassese Athletic Field.
“Last year when we made to the (county), this group knew we had changed the reputation of Connetquot soccer,” midfielder Andrew Johnson said. “We knew there was so much potential on the team this year and this was in reach.”
“I’m proud of what these guys overcame tonight,” Thunderbirds coach John Zambriski said. “We had a terrible first half and our defense held the fort when we were down a man. They just had the heart of champions today.”
Connetquot (15-2-3) will play for the Long Island Class AA championship, and a spot in the state semifinals, against Nassau champion Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK at 4 p.m. Sunday at Mitchel Athletic Complex.
Moore was exceptional as the T-birds’ last line of defense. He had a pair of diving stops among his 10 saves and then the penalty kick deflection. Zambriski called it “his best performance of the season.”
“He didn’t get tested that much during the season, but he really showed up when the chips were down,” he added.
“Penalty kicks – it’s nerve-wracking,” Moore said. “But I feel like I’ve been preparing for this game my whole life. . . . This is a team where we trust in each other. I wasn’t going to let my teammates down.”
Smithtown West (12-5-1) showed the blue-collar grit that helped it reach the final from the No. 5 seeding. The Bulls completely locked up Connetquot standout Garfield Gillespie, took a 1-0 lead with 23:24 to go in regulation on Matt Ferrero’s goal and then spent the rest of the game throwing their bodies in front of Thunderbirds shots as they tried to seal the win.
“Penalties is the worst way to lose a game and end your season, but I really admire our group for the way they played for each other,” Bulls coach A.J. Gercke said.
Connetquot broke through 16:36 left in regulation when Iparraguirre’s corner kick bounded off several player and to Johnson, who hammered in the game-tying goal. It was the only blemish on an excellent effort by Bulls keeper Landon Schneider (who wasn’t in goal for the penalty kicks).
Johnson, Iparraguirre and Brandon Vecchia all missed time with cramps and Gillespie picked up a second yellow card in the second OT, forcing the T-birds to play down a man.
“We persevered through everything,” Johnson said.
Connetquot will be without Gillespie on Sunday due to the yellow cards. “That sure makes it look like the chips are stacked against us,” Zambriski said. “But it also looked that way a lot tonight and we still came out on top.”
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.
