Boys Soccer Takes Aim At Championship Season

It's hard not to be confident when you have a 15-year playoff appearance streak. Yet for the Sayville boys varsity soccer team, confidence, or perhaps overconfidence, might be their biggest challenge.

"When we step onto the field, we know that either we are going to win or we're going to beat ourselves," senior forward Vinny Sakk said. "We have all the talent we need."

Need to what? "Win a state title," said junior sweeper Jared Van Brunt. "That's our goal. But we can't be overconfident, and we can't take any team lightly."

With 15 returning players off of last year's varsity squad—which went 14-2 before a first-round loss to Miller Place—the Golden Flashes are the team to beat according to a preseason coaching poll, which ranked Sayville first in Class A.

"We have a target on our backs [because of the ranking]," coach Val Winter said. "All our [League 5] games are going to be tough." Added senior midfielder Jon Paciorek, "We can't look past anyone. That's what we did last year," he said, referring to the playoff loss.

This year, Sayville is the only Class A school in Suffolk County's top-ten soccer rankings, a recognition not lost on Winter, yet not one that he finds much comfort in. "It's hard to predict, because high school teams change every year. It's totally different year by year. But we can be a better team than last year's team."

The belief of an improved team is not lost on three-year varsity player Travis Redding. "As a number one seed, we have to rise to those expectations," the senior defender said. "But we try not to focus on that. We don't want any more pressure added to what there already is."

Depth and experience offer Winter an opportunity to get fresher legs on the field and juggle personnel as the game presents itself. "We routinely go 14 players deep in a game, but with our depth this year, that's going out the window," Winter said. "We have a bunch of players who can step in late in a game when you're tired and get the job done," noted Sakk.

Depth and skill seem apparent at every position, starting with goalie, where seniors Dan Scheck and Brian Lutcha will both see playing time, as Scheck's field play at forward impresses Winter. "It's a lot different [playing goal as compared with forward]," said Scheck, who, if not for his skill in the field, would presumably be the starting goalie. "When I play goal, I have more pressure. When I'm on the field, if I make a mistake, there's 10 other guys to back me up."

The confidence Winter's players have in themselves comes, in large part the coach said, "from our past tradition. We've made the playoffs 15 straight years. We have a lot of talent, and it's a tight team." Junior midfielder Dakota Edwards, who has played varsity since his freshman year, echoes his coach's thoughts. "We have new talent that's come up from junior varsity, and a lot of returning players that combined, can get us a state title," Edwards said. That's always been our goal. And we talk about how far we are going to go [in the playoffs]."

Is that confidence or overconfidence, when the Golden Flashes talk of championships? "A state title might be our goal, but first, I want to get out of the first round of the playoffs," Scheck said. "We need to focus on that."

For the boys varsity soccer team's complete schedule, click here.