Island Trees Boys Soccer Loses Heartbreaker in County Finals

The No. 2 Island Trees Bulldogs and No. 9 Jericho Jayhawks boys soccer teams hadn't surrendered a single goal in the playoffs heading into Wednesday night's Nassau County Class A championship game — but one team had to win, and for that to happen, one team had to score.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, their immaculate defense finally gave way to a second-half penalty shot in the 62nd minute, which Jayhawks midfielder Glenn Hyams buried into the left corner of the net for the game's only goal and a 1-0 Jericho win.

"Almost wished that there wasn't a winner because both teams deserved to win," Island Trees head coach Graham Radcliffe said. "Unfortunately they won on a penalty shot, which was probably the only way they were going to score."

Island Trees was 9-1-2 during league play in the regular season and had outscored its opponents 5-0 in the playoffs through three rounds. But equally as impressive was Jericho's recent streak of seven straight wins, allowing just one goal in that span.

"We had a great year, we just fell short today," Bulldogs forward J.T. Famularo said after the loss. "We had two losses [all season] and this was a big loss."

The Jayhawks nearly went up 1-0 in the first two minutes of the game after forward Derek Medolla got loose inside of the 18-yard box, but rushed his shot and pushed it wide of the goal.

Five minutes later, the Jayhawks came even closer after a header from Michael Blumberg hit the bottom of the crossbar and landed on the goal line as Bulldogs goalie Andrew Barbine swung and hit the ball out of harm's way.

But the Bulldogs had their chances too. A shot from Famularo was on its way in with the Jericho goalie out of position, but Jayhawks defender Jack Roberts got himself in good position and headed what would have been the game's first goal out of the box.

"We didn't finish on our chances that we had," Famularo said. "We had a lot of good chances and we blew it."

With just more than six minutes left in the first half, Bulldogs defender Chris Burns got off a gorgeous shot from 30 yards out, which was headed into the corner of the net until Jericho goalie Ari Lewis tipped the ball out of bounds.

"It's just gut-wrenching because we worked so hard to get here," Radcliffe said. "To get so close, it's difficult. It's difficult to lose like that."

Despite the loss, the Bulldogs' season was a success — a season which they dedicated to their assistant coach, Dan Haggerty, who was diagnosed with Acute Meyloid Leukemia earlier this year.

"We just tried to dedicate this season to our assistant coach, who has leukemia right now," senior captain Nickolas Alavanja said. "We did it for him."

"They've given him so much strength to battle through," Radcliffe added. "It's more than a win or loss for what they've done, and that's what I'm most proud of."

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