Babylon ousted in penalty kicks in state regional final

Kye Castelluccio was the last Babylon boys soccer player to leave the field at Diamond in the Pines Saturday.

The Panthers senior defender and captain had been one of the team’s "unsung heroes this season" according to coach Dennis McGovern.

A week ago, Castelluccio and Babylon advanced in penalty kicks. But on Saturday it was Thornwood-Westlake which advanced against Babylon in PKs, 4-3, after a scoreless 110 minutes of regulation and two overtimes in the state Class B Southeast Regional final before a crowd of 500.

The game was wild throughout as three red cards were issued, including two against Westlake players. Also, a Westlake player had an apparent right arm injury and play was stopped about 30 minutes as he was taken away by ambulance.

The Wildcats (19-1-1) advance to the state semifinals on Saturday at Middletown.

Babylon (17-2-1) has not lost in its last 13 matches (11-0-2) and had 10 straight shutouts. The Babylon offense had 22 shots, but Wildcats goalkeeper Francesco Michilli was outstanding with 15 saves.

"We couldn’t finish," coach Dennis McGovern said. "I knew if we didn’t finish it would come back to haunt us."

The two teams played 10 on 10 midway through the first half after each club lost a player because of a red card. Later, the Wildcats’ Martin Sunjic picked up his second yellow card, which is an automatic red card and disqualification, with 27:36 left in regulation.

After two, 15-minute golden goal overtime periods, the teams went to five rounds of penalty kicks. Babylon’s Luca Giammarino, Nico Giammarino, and Carlos Berrios all converted their chances, and Babylon keeper Troy Schipf (12 saves) made a diving stop to close the fourth round as it was tied at 3. Michilli made a key save to open the fifth round, and then stepped up to the mark and made the final kick as the Wildcats advanced.

"I wouldn’t want to go out any other way," said Castelluccio, whose father, Ernest, coached many of the Panthers in a Babylon youth league. "I’ve been playing soccer with so many of these guys since I was a little kid."

Many of those former Babylon "little kids" will long be remembered around town for an amazing season.

"They made history," said McGovern, who guided Babylon to its first Suffolk B title since 2005. "We won our first Long Island championship. We had a lot of firsts this season."

Whalers lose in OT. Tiwa Soetan scored his second goal of the game in the first overtime as Elmsford-Hamilton (19-1) defeated Pierson/Bridgehampton, 2-1, at Valhalla High School in the state Class C Southeast Regional final.

Halsey Burton tied the score with 5:12 left in regulation for PB (10-8-1). The Whalers had their lone state semifinal appearance in 2017.