Renewing an Old Rivalry

This was some real "old school" soccer.

For those who remember it, the rivalry between Massapequa and Berner High Schools always generated major interest amongst supporters of the two schools. The rivalry officially ended once Berner ceased being a high school and became a middle school during the latter part of the 1980s, but some feuds die hard.

While the showcase event was the annual football game between the two schools, Massapequa and Berner also squared off in a different kind of "football".

The boys' soccer teams at the school now have an adversarial relationship that has outlasted the gridiron rivalry, but is also much friendlier.

This was evident when soccer alumni from the two schools got together at John J. Burns Park  recently to settle some old scores.

The Berner Bison alumni  came away with bragging rights  with a  4-2 win. David Intrabartolo scored two goals for the winning side.

It has been around 30 years since the players last stepped onto the pitch for their respective high school alma maters. Yet in spite of this and the camaraderie amongst the players from both sides, one Massapequa alumnus said that the rivalry was just as strong as it was back then.

“It was great just seeing people you hadn’t seen in awhile, seeing the rivalry…the same as it was, same intensity” said Mark Bodenstein, who played at Massapequa High from 1981 to 1984.

Although the game was hard fought, Bodenstein, who did not play in the match,  said the players “went back to being best friends” afterwards.

Berner graduate Mike Gozley and Massapequa alum Bruce Stegner, who both scored for their respective teams, were credited with putting the game together. One notable participant was  Fox News personality Brian Kilmeade, who played for Massapequa High. 

Kilmeade said  "it was amazing to see so many parents of the players" attending the game, even though the participants  are now in their in their 40s and 50s.

He was also surprised that players came from far away places to play in the match. Bodenstein’s older brother Alan, who went on to play  professional indoor soccer after graduating from Hofstra, traveled all the way from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Floyd “Flip” Kenyon, who came from Tampa, played both football and soccer at Massapequa High from 1978 through 1982. He went on to be a freshman kicker for the Wake Forest football team before switching to soccer his final three years there.

 The event was well-received by the participants and Kilmeade said that everyone wants to come back next year. He also said that a women’s alumni game next year was a possibility.

Kenyon says he wants to return.  "The soccer match gave me the opportunity to see teammates that I grew up with but haven't seen in over 20 years”,  he said. “I missed those guys ."