Long Island boys soccer notebook: Glenn hanging onto unbeaten record despite loss of standout

Lou Hanner heard the bad news back in May.

The Glenn boys soccer coach’s standout forward/center midfielder, Eli Tyll, a 16-goal scorer as a junior, had torn an ACL while playing for his club team.

Tyll was going to be sidelined for his senior season.

“Basically, you’ve got to start from the drawing board,” said Hanner, now in his 27th year guiding the Knights. “We play in the [Town of Brookhaven] summer league and basically we build our lineup in the summer, and we were going to build the lineup around him, and he’s out of the equation.”

So were 17 seniors from a team that went 16-2, took the Suffolk VIII title and reached the Suffolk A semis, falling in OT against eventual champ Kings Park.

There were just four starters back. Still, Hanner felt “cautiously optimistic.” And the returnees and the newcomers have created more optimism.

The Knights are 6-0 and have outscored their opponents 29-3.

Their latest win came on Monday, a 3-2 decision at Kings Park.

“Our expectation is to challenge for the league title and get to the county final,” Hanner said.

Junior Jake Piacentini, a starting outside midfielder in 2023, has stepped in at center midfield and “done a phenomenal job,” according to Hanner.

Returning starter Cooper Kassan scored six goals last season. This season, the junior forward has 10 already.

“He’s been extremely coachable and he’s been grinding to get better,” Hanner said.

Junior forward Isaac Perez, who’s a transfer, has seven goals. Senior defender Davin Li has also been an asset.

Then there’s senior Tyler Ziminski, a third-year starter who posted 10 shutouts last year. He owns four so far.

“You got that caliber of a keeper, they’re going to give you a chance to win every game,” Hanner said. “He does some things that you can’t coach.”

And what of Tyll? Hanner said he underwent surgery in June and was recently cleared to start jogging.

“He’s been there every single day,” Hanner said. “… He’s been like another coach. He’s been totally into it. He’s a captain. He’s basically doing everything that you want a kid to do except he can’t play.”

Roslyn rebuilding

Roslyn made the 2023 Nassau AA playoff picture, bowing out in the quarterfinals. Daniel Levine contributed three goals and five assists along the way. But the junior midfielder is one of just three returning starters.

Juan Mejia, Roslyn’s 26th-year coach, has only four seniors. The Bulldogs are off to a 0-4 start.

“It’s definitely challenging just because a lot of these kids are coming from the JV program,” Mejia said. “So they’re not used to the pace of the game, the actual quality of the game. All these kids don’t really play soccer outside school.

“… I mean, it’s a good group. Hopefully for us is [we can] try to maybe win a couple of games this season and maybe build from there, and … since they get a little bit more experience this year, maybe next year will be a better year.”