Dowling men's soccer begins NCAA tournament play

Championship soccer pedigree is evident at Dowling College, where the men's team has five former Comsewogue High School players who were part of state championship teams.

Dowling is headed for the NCAA Division II Final Four for the fifth time in its history. Tenth-ranked Dowling (12-1-6) will play No. 4 Northern Kentucky (18-2-3) Wednesday night at Bellarmine University in Louisville. Rollins (Fla.) plays Midwestern (Tex.) in the other semifinal. Dowling won the national title in 2006.

"The fact that they come from a winning program and know how to win is huge,'' coach John DiRico said of his Comsewogue players. But the level of play in college, DiRico said, represents "an immense jump.''

The players will attest to that. "When we won the states it was a great feeling,'' sophomore back Anthony Forlini said. "In college competition, the speed of play is so much harder and quicker. The feeling now is greater than it was in high school.''

Forlini, midfielder Aidan Pagano and sophomore midfielder Sean Dougherty played on the 2008 state championship team, while freshmen forwards Gerassimos Magoulas and Keith Vigorito played for the 2009 championship team.

"I had friends on the team [at Dowling], '' Vigorito said, "so they brought me in.''

Dougherty initially decided to take a different path and headed to NYIT as a freshman. He transferred to Dowling this season and led the team with nine goals. "It was awesome getting the opportunity to play with them again,'' Dougherty said. "It would be like high school all over again.''

Dowling had originally recruited Dougherty, and DiRico was thrilled to have him as a transfer. "He's made a huge difference in our squad with several game winning or tying goals,'' the coach said. "We knew what Sean was bringing.''

DiRico (250-80-41) is in his 19th season and has guided the team to 13 postseason appearances. His teams have won five straight academic awards from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

DiRico would not compare this team with his 2006 title winner, other than to say "one thing that bonds them together is a passion for winning and the absolute hatred for losing.''

Northern Kentucky, led by Steven Beattie with 24 goals, will be playing to a home crowd, but DiRico said that should not phase his team. "Ask West Florida,'' DiRico said of the 2006 semifinalist that Dowling defeated in Pensacola. "We beat them on their own field.''