Luis Masin comes up big to lead Greenport boys soccer to state semifinals
Luis Masin’s scoring in the first half helped the Porters to a 4-2 lead en route to their first state semifinal since 2005 on Saturday Nov 5 2022. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Greenport needed someone to step up on Saturday and Luis Masin answered the call.
Greenport defeated Chapel Field, 5-2, in the state Class D Southeast Regional final on Saturday, at Diamond in the Pines in Coram.
Masin scored two goals and had two assists all in the first half to help Greenport reach a state semifinal for the first time since 2005.
Noah Swart scored two goals for Chapel Field (6-9).
“I’ve never had a game like this, I just wanted to help my team, just wanted to win,” said Masin, a sophomore.
“We haven’t gotten past this point in 17 years, hopefully we can go upstate and bring it home.”
Ricky Campos, arguably the Porter’s most important player, went down with an ankle injury in the first half, but Masin assured that the Porters (6-12) wouldn’t miss a beat. With the team down 1-0 Masin used a corner kick to assist on a Milton Veliz goal and tie the score.
“It was tough for us when Ricky went down, he’s been our best player,” coach Greg Dlhopolsky said. “Luis really stepped up for us, He knew he was going to have make something happen.”
Three minutes later he beat his defender and fired a pass to assist a Daniel Rivas goal. In the 26th minute, he took matters into his own hands and scored an unassisted goal. In the 34th minute, he headed in a throw in by Declan Crowley to put the Porters up 4-2.
“We just had to work harder, run harder, pass better,” Masin said. “We just had to put balls in the back of the net.”
In the second half the Greenport defense yielded few scoring opportunities and seemed quicker to every ball, spearheaded by Masin’s aggressiveness.
Campos made a return to the game after hurting his ankle but proceeded to injure the other ankle. He pushed through the pain and returned late in the second half, icing the game with an unassisted goal with less than a minute remaining.
“My ankles were killing me in that moment, but I put everything I had into it there,” Campos said. “I’ve dreamed of a moment like this since elementary school, I wanted to feel that feeling.”
Greenport’s victory puts the Porters in the state Class D semifinals at Middletown High School, where they will face Fillmore at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday.
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
