​Garden City Boys Soccer Headed To County Quarterfinals

First round playoff games can be challenging in many ways. For the higher seed, Garden City, it’s all about getting out of the gate early, establishing their game and not allowing the visitor to dictate pace. For the lower seed, in this case Island Trees, it was presenting a strong defense but also looking to move the ball forward and attack when they had the chance. And today’s game proved to be such a match, with GC jumping out early and pushing the play for an early goal. While Island Trees settled in defensively, looked for a quick counterattack and played a solid midfield game.

The Trojans got on the board early, with a goal from Tommy Poz on a well-placed shot that beat keeper Jayson Portes of Island Trees. The goal was assisted by Jack Perrini, who took a ball out of the air from Finn Connolly and quickly laid it off to Poz for the shot.

The Nassau County seeding committee placed Garden City as the 3 seed although the Trojans are ranked in the top ten in the State by the NY State Sportswriters Association, as well as being the number 1 team in Nassau County according to their own website. Although not what the Trojans were looking for out of the seeding committee, it will give them an added incentive in their playoff run.

With the 2-0 victory, the unusual seeding now sets up a second-round matchup of the two best teams in Nassau County Class A – Garden City vs. Carey. The teams have battled twice this season with each coming out on top once. The rubber match will determine who moves on to the semifinals for Nassau County Class A.

Garden City had several opportunities to add to their early score in the first half but were unable to get that all important second goal. Connolly and Nick Bernieri had the best chances but their shots either sailed wide or were quickly grabbed by Portes.

And on the counterattack, Island Trees had an excellent chance midway through the half as GC keeper James Castoro was forced to make an acrobatic save for a shot that was destined for the upper corner of the goal. He pushed it wide, and the ensuing corner kick was well defended to quell any chance for the Bulldogs to get the tying goal.

Garden City’s defense has been key to not only defending against, but they are also key to starting the offensive attack moving forward. The excellent play of Connor Brock and Spencer Caporicci, along with Tommy Esposito starting in place of the injured Ryan Buccellato, helped set the tone for the game as they time after time shut down any counterattack and pushed the ball forward.

The second half was played mostly in the Trojan offensive end of the field, with quick ball movement from Christian Pica, Luke Menger, Bernieri and Connolly. Although they controlled much of the time of possession, Garden City could only break through the tough Island Trees defense for one insurance goal.

The second goal for Garden City was courtesy of a penalty kick awarded to the Trojans when Menger was taken down in the box after demonstrating some terrific foot skills that frustrated the Bulldog defenders. Stepping up to the spot was Finn Connolly and he confidently sent a low shot into the corner for the key second goal.

The remainder of the match was played in the midfield with GC getting the only looks at the goal. There were chances for Connolly, Bernieri and Steven Zuniga that were turned aside. While defensively the Trojans backline kept the pressure off of Castoro and he secured another shutout for home team, their tenth of the season.

The second-round match against Carey will take place on Tuesday afternoon at Garden City High School. It should be a match that any soccer fan would not want to miss.