Garfield Gillespie's quick goal sets the tone in Connetquot's victory
Sophomore Garfield Gillespie scored just 35 seconds into Friday’s victory. He has four goals in five games this season for Connetquot. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Garfield Gillespie’s job on the Connetquot boys soccer team is to score, however it is much more than an assignment for the sophomore forward. He almost sees it as a higher calling.
“I have a mindset even before the game starts: I have to score,” he explained. “I have to score for my team, for my family, for the school and for the whole Connetquot community.”
And his head was in the right place on Friday as the Thunderbirds traveled to Longwood for the Suffolk II opener for both teams. Just 35 seconds into the game, Gillespie took a high bouncing pass from senior Matthew Iparraguirre and finessed it over the outstretched arms of leaping Lions keeper Sal Meloni and into the top of the goal.
It proved the tone-setter as Connetquot dictated play through most of the game en route to a 2-0 victory.
“He’s a weapon we’ve needed,” Thunderbirds coach John Zambriski said. “That goal took all the nerves out of us and made them have to play from behind.”
“When I got the ball, I saw their (keeper) as off his line and I knew I had to put it in the net,” said Gillespie, who already has four goals in five games this season. “I wasn’t surprised to have the opportunity so quick because it’s happened a lot with us.”
Senior midfielder Daniel Widing made a pretty cross-field pass to Michael Kokolakis with just under 10 minutes left in the first half and the senior forward sent it back across the grain and into the lower right corner to make it 2-0 for the Thunderbirds (3-1-1, 1-0).
Longwood (3-2, 0-1) sought to play a possession-style of game, but couldn’t get much in the way of an organized attack all game. Connetquot’s Widing blanketed Lions senior midfielder Peter Agelis and, more often than not, the Lions had to play long balls. That’s where senior fullback Aidan Friel led a suffocating Thunderbird defense.
“We were just faster to the ball when they got close,” Friel said. “If we didn’t get to every 50-50 ball, we got the second touch,” Friel said. “We didn’t give them a chance to breathe down that end.”
“We could see we were frustrating them,” Widing said. “You saw it how they were talking to each other and how they had (poor) touches.”
Gillespie moved to New York from Jamaica in July of 2021, wasn’t aware there were soccer tryouts in August and started his freshman year on the JV. He was brought up to varsity midseason and helped the Thunderbirds reach the Suffolk Class AA semifinals, where they fell to Huntington.
Connetquot can’t wait to see what a full season with a more experienced Gillespie might get them.
“If he keeps putting it in the back of the net the way he has, we have a good chance to go far,” Friel said. “We get a shot at a championship.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
