Mattituck falls to Burke in Class B regional
Mattituck's #23 Kevin Reyer, #9 Alex Scalia and goalie Cody Huntley after losing in overtime to Burke Catholic HS. (Nov. 13, 2010) Credit: Bob Mitchell
Mattituck has been used to pressure situations all season. The Tuckers were involved in their seventh overtime Saturday and went to penalty kicks for the second time.
Mattituck won on penalty kicks to advance to the Suffolk Class B county championship last week, but weren't as fortunate against undefeated Burke Catholic.
After 110 minutes of scoreless play, Burke Catholic advanced on penalty kicks, 7-6, in the Class B Southeast Regional boys soccer final at Diamond in the Pines. Burke Catholic (19-0-1) will play the winner of Northeastern Clinton-Potsdam in the state semifinals Saturday.
"It's the worst way to go out in this type of match," Mattituck goalkeeper Cody Huntley said. "We had our chances and when you get them you have to put it in. I thought we played well."
Andres Aldaz, Brenden Andersen, Matt Waggoner, Kevin Reyer, and Alex Scalia each scored for Mattituck (16-2-2) in the first round of five penalty kicks, but Burke Catholic also scored on all five.
After that, each team gets one penalty kick and the opponent gets a chance to match. Joe Pfaff scored for Mattituck and Brian Mortimore answered for Burke Catholic. Ryan Finger then sent a shot over the goal and Jake Manna scored for Burke Catholic to end it. "Cody usually comes up big," Waggoner said, "but their PKs were good. It's extremely tough for a goalie. You almost have to guess where they're shooting it."
Mattituck defeated Southampton in the semifinals last week, converting two penalty kicks and allowing one.
Huntley made nine saves Saturdayand Andrew Nutt made six saves for Burke Catholic.
"Penalty kicks are tough," Mattituck coach Matt Litchhult said. "We made them all except one and they did a good job shooting. They fought hard. They were cramping at the end. We had some chances and I thought we had the better of opportunities."
