Whitman boys soccer team wins first state title as Michael Lorello, Witman Hernandez score two goals each
Walt Whitman players charge the field after the final whistle during the NYSPHSAA Class AA boys soccer championship at Middletown High School on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015. Credit: Adrian Kraus
Unfinished business no more.
Michael Lorello converted two penalty kicks and Witman Hernandez also scored twice as the Whitman boys soccer team earned its first state championship with a 5-1 win over Ballston Spa on Sunday in the Class AA final.
"We knew we weren't satisfied with the county title," Lorello said.
The Wildcats, who fell to eventual state champion Commack in last year's Suffolk final, made "unfinished business" the slogan for the 2015 campaign. They finished part of the business with a 1-0 win over Brentwood in the county final.
"But this was really the business that we wanted to finish," Lorello said.
For Lorello, there also was some personal unfinished business. The senior missed a penalty kick in Whitman's 4-1 win over Hicksville in the Long Island final. He received a chance at redemption in the second minute Sunday after Blake Aronson drew a foul in the box.
"I'm usually not nervous," Lorello said, "but after the Long Island championship I was."
He was the only one.
"We're very confident for him to take the penalty in the state final," defender Sean Zagorski said.
Lorello said he stuck to his gut and went right, burying his shot in the bottom corner. Hernandez scored two minutes later and Lorello added his second penalty kick in the 17th minute to give the Wildcats (20-1-1) a 3-0 lead.
"We felt very confident at that point," Aronson said, "but we didn't take them lightly just because we had a three-goal lead."
The Wildcats had seen Ballston Spa overcome a 2-0 halftime deficit in the semifinals, so they continued to pressure. Five minutes into the second half, Hernandez attacked down the middle and fed Aronson, who ran into a defender but mustered enough power on his shot to score.
Ballston Spa's Griffen MacWatters scored in the 60th minute, but Hernandez -- who had three goals in Whitman's 7-3 semifinal win over Hilton -- answered three minutes later for the final margin.
"It's just an amazing feeling," Hernandez said. "I cannot describe with words what we did."
What's next?
"Just celebrate," Lorello said. "We finished it. It's over."
