Farmingdale boys soccer scores strong win over Syosset
Noah Bekele of Farmingdale, foreground, tries to keep Xavier Pultz of Syosset away from the ball during a Nassau Conference III boys soccer game in Syosset on Tuesday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Farmingdale hasn’t experienced that sour feeling that comes with losing in a long while, not since Sept. 5 against East Meadow, way back in the second game.
The Dalers figured to be tested in their second-to-last game of their regular season, playing Tuesday night at Syosset, the formidable defending Nassau Class AAA champ. Plus, their bus was late leaving, so this soccer game didn’t begin until almost an hour past the scheduled 5 p.m. start.
But they still aced the test.
Jared Casco and Nicco DiTroia scored the goals, Jonathan Buonomo kept his sheet clean with nine saves and Anthony Princi played his defensive role to perfection in Farmingdale’s 2-0 victory.
“I think that we grind,” said coach Brian Weber, his team now on a 6-0-5 run and sitting at 7-1-5 overall and in Nassau Conference AAA. “We find ways to win. We trust each other. We play for each other. And we never give up.”
The Dalers have never won an outright county title. They were technically AA co-champs in 2010, but Massapequa advanced that day on penalty kicks.
So what are their chances this time around?
“Honestly, I think they’re high,” said Casco, a senior center midfielder. “I think going into this game, this was a steppingstone of really what a playoff game would be like. I think we came in as underdogs . . . Despite the late bus, outside factors, we got it done.”
Syosset hadn’t experienced that sour feeling from losing for a good while, too. It went on a 5-0-2 run after falling to Port Washington on Sept. 18.
But coach Brett Waxer said, “We haven’t been playing a complete 80 [-minute] game. We need to be playing a complete 80 game.
This game was Syosset’s regular-season finale. It finished at 9-3-2 overall and in the conference. Now it’s on to the playoffs in pursuit of a repeat.
“That’s the goal,” Waxer said. “There’s no question about that. But we also know where Triple A is. Every game, any team that’s going to make the playoffs could be walking away winning.”
Casco gave Farmingdale the only goal it needed. Christian Graziano sent in a corner kick from the right side and Casco banged it in off a scramble in front, beating Josh Weisenfeld.
The senior goalkeeper kept it at 1-0 with a point-blank stop late in the half, one of his nine saves.
But DiTroia took out insurance from near the top of the box on a shot that deflected in off Weisenfeld with 22:45 left.
“We knew 2-0 means nothing,” DiTroia said. “We fought to the end.”
Princi did his part throughout.
“I thought he put on a clinic tonight,” Weber said, “what a center back should be like.”
