Olivares, Luna spark Brentwood's LIC three-peat
Brentwood teammates celebrate winning their third Class AA Long Island Championship in a row. (Nov. 14, 2010) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The whispers before the season were that Brentwood's run was over. The Indians lost more than half the team to graduation, prompting some to believe Suffolk Class AA was wide open.
Those who buried Brentwood took out the shovels prematurely.
The Indians are going back to the state semifinals after a 5-3 win over Massapequa Sunday night in the Long Island Class AA championship at Dowling. Julio Olivares scored two goals and Giancarlo Luna had two assists.
Brentwood (18-1-2) will play Scarsdale (20-2) in the state Class AA semifinals at 4 p.m. Saturday at Middletown High School in Poughkeepsie.
Brentwood won the Long Island championship for the third straight season and the fifth time in the last six seasons. "A lot of people didn't think we would win this year," Olivares said. "Not many believed in us."
Massapequa (12-4-2) took a 1-0 lead when Liam Callahan scored off a corner kick from Dakota Barnathan 9:07 in. But Brentwood answered with three straight goals, the first when Giancarlo Luna sent a ball into the box and Johnathan Interiano scored with 27:40 left in the first half to tie it at 1.
Frank Guzman gave Brentwood a 2-1 lead four minutes later when he blasted a shot from 20 yards out, and then Luna sent a cross into the box, where Olivares scored with five minutes left in the first half to make it 3-1.
"My main job was to make sure I do my job and center balls the way I did so the two guys up top can do what they do," Luna said through an interpreter. "The assists are important when they come in a final like this."
The Chiefs didn't go quietly, though, as Chris Balzano scored off an assist from Roberto Reyna with 31:53 left in the game. But once again Brentwood had an answer, on a header by Andres Franco with 27:16 left. Olivares added a goal off an assist from Guzman with 5:10 left.
"Everyone played well for us," Brentwood coach Ron Eden said. "It's a great feeling because a lot of people thought our run was over."
