Glen Cove has a 'Big Red' target on its back after winning title

Ethan Graziosi won’t forget that November night at Mitchel Athletic Complex. It was the night his Glen Cove Big Red blanked Garden City and earned the right to call itself a Nassau County boys soccer champion for the first time since 2016.

“What I remember about that night was it was an unbelievable feeling,” said Graziosi, now a senior forward. “It’s a feeling I would love to feel again this year, obviously. Every single one of us has been working nonstop over the summer to make sure we secure another championship.”

But there’s something that comes with being a returning champ. This goes in Nassau for Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK, the AA winner now in AAA, and Carle Place, the ruler of the county (and Long Island) in B, as well as Glen Cove, the Class A winner now in AA.

Everyone is aiming for the big target as this new season begins. 

“I think knocking off the defending champs is always an effective motivational tool that the opposition has,” Big Red coach Brian Smith said. “The returning champions are always going to have a target on their back.”

Carle Place can relate. The Frogs usually are the returning champions.

They won four straight crowns in B, then left for C in 2021 and took the county’s B/C title game, then returned last year to take that fifth consecutive title while playing in B. They have claimed nine county championships in the past 11 seasons.

“We definitely get every team’s best game,” coach Conor Reardon said.

Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK is coming off the program’s first title in 37 years.

“We talked about how hard it’s going to be to do it again because everyone’s after us,” coach Christine Ho said.

The Hawks are working in some younger players. But they do have seven returning starters, including junior Chris Simonian and sophomore Connor Faello, who both play centrally in the midfield, and junior wing Ryan Misiti. Seniors Zachary Hammerman and Anthony Powers are also back on defense.

“We talked about having to be special, having to work harder, having to be better than last year,” Ho said. “… I do think we have some good talent.”

So does Carle Place. It has 21 players back, including eight starters.

Sophomore forward Ryan Leary delivered eight goals and six assists as a freshman. Senior forward Tyler Aguilar and junior forward Matt Babino added five goals apiece. Senior midfielder Logan Martins is the Frogs’ “engine,” according to Reardon.

“When you return eight of 11 starters and the experience that we return from last year’s regional finalists, the goal is to get back to where you were,” Reardon said. “… Maybe on paper you would say we’re probably the favorite, but, listen, the favorite hasn’t won the last two years.”

Glen Cove has “a very good chance” to win another championship, according to Graziosi.

Junior striker/central attacking midfielder Enry Hernandez (12 goals and nine assists last season), Graziosi (10 goals, eight assist) and senior goalkeeper Bryan Hernandez (three shutouts in the postseason) lead a group of seven returning starters.

“We’re still young,” Smith said. “The team believes in the process. We’re deeper than we were last year, and we’re more experienced than we were last year.”

That title last year as a No. 11 seed meant a lot to the community, too.

“To the community, I think it’s validation in terms of all the hard work that the Glen Cove Soccer Association puts in at the youth level,” Smith said. “… Without them, we don’t have the opportunity to field such a competitive, successful team.”