Tyler Aguilar notches goal, assist as Carle Place tops Babylon for LI Class B boys soccer championship
![Carle Place celebrates its win in the LI Class B...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3ANWVlYjU0OTktYjcwNS00%3AOTktYjcwNS00M2RmYzBh%2Fskbaby231101_photos.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
Carle Place celebrates its win in the LI Class B boys soccer final on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. Credit: Neil Miller
Carle Place-Babylon II had a striking resemblance to Carle Place-Babylon I when it came to the final score.
The teams met in the Long Island Class B boys soccer championship game Tuesday at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale in a rematch of last year’s championship game.
This one ended just like the last one: Carle Place 2, Babylon 0.
An impressive repeat feat for a team that returned eight starters.
“It just shows Carle Place’s dominance in Nassau soccer, as well as Long Island,” said senior striker Tyler Aguilar, who scored the first goal and assisted on the second.
Now the Frogs (15-0-1), who have won six straight county titles, just don’t want to repeat what happened after this game in 2022.
They move on to the same step they slipped on last season when they lost to Lourdes in the regional final in Beacon. This time, they will face the winner of Wednesday’s regional semifinal between Keio of Section 1 and Spackenkill of Section IX back at Mitchel at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
“To now put ourselves back into that regional final where that bus ride home felt like a five-hour bus ride after losing — it’s just feels so rewarding for these boys to put themselves back in this game,” coach Conor Reardon said. “And we’re not done.”
Babylon (14-3-1), the winner of four straight Suffolk titles, hit a post in the first half on its closest call against goalkeeper Anthony Terrone. But it was Carle Place that hit the net with 5:36 left until the break.
A foul on the Panthers resulted in a free kick from the far left side. Jason Pereira sent the ball in front, and Aguilar headed it past goalkeeper Trace Cerrone from about 8 yards out.
Aguilar then fed Ryan Leary, who rocketed a shot into the net from about 15 yards out 55 seconds into the second half.
“As Coach Reardon always tells us, when it turns to October and November, we’re a different team,” Leary said. “We proved it last year; we proved it this year.”
While the final score was the same, this game didn’t feel the same to Babylon coach Dennis McGovern.
“I thought we were much better this year,” McGovern said. “The first eight, 10 minutes, I thought we were the better team, and then we just stopped doing the little things that we do well, which is being first to the ball.”
CORRECTION: The number of consecutive county titles for Carle Place was incorrect in a previous version of this story.