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Sports

Fullam's Feet Lead Sayville Boys to State Title

Golden Flashes win semifinals Saturday before defeating Pittsford Mendon for the title Sunday.

Great teams always get the job done when it matters, and that's exactly what the Sayville varsity boys soccer team did in the Class "A" State Championships this weekend.

The Golden Flashes turned to their lockdown defense and clutch offensive attack and defeated Section IX's Goshen 1-0 in the semifinals Saturday before taking down Pittsford Mendon 2-1 Sunday to clinch their first state championship.

"It was basically a matter of the team trusting each other and I think that got us through any of the tough times we had," head coach Val Winter said. "This weekend the games were very tough and the finals were very physical…in the first half it was more of a wrestling match than it was a soccer game…but the players never got down on each other the whole year and were constantly in each other's corner."

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On offense, it was Vincent Sakk who scored the game-winner in the semifinals off a perfect pass across the middle from Sean Fullam. It was Fullam who ended up scoring both goals in the finals (his fifth and sixth in six playoff games) to put away Pittsford Mendon.

"None of Sean's goals were as important as the two he scored [Sunday]," Winter said. "He worked hard for both of those goals, which is how he scored most of the time all season. He just has a nose for the goal. He's a team player and he came through big time for us in the playoffs."

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After Fullam's goal, Pittsford Mendon had a late offensive flurry and in one key moment it looked as if the game-tying goal was set to score. Before the ball could cross the line, however, Craig DeCesare got to it and cleared it to save the game.

While the Golden Flashes had to go around in 2010, it was their that led them through the season and the playoffs to the championship.

During the regular season it was the duo of seniors Dan Scheck and Brian Lutcha that allowed just two goals. When the playoffs hit, the coaching staff made the call to keep Scheck in net.

"Before the playoffs started he [Scheck] basically played half a game for us," Winter said. "He played a lot on the field and was our leading scorer with ten goals, but he's probably the best keeper on Long Island so once the playoffs started his job was to be in goal full time. He came up huge in [Sunday's] game. Between him and our defenders in the back, who usually don't get enough credit, they were huge in our success."

Winter is talking, of course, about the defensive trio of Dakota Edwards, sweeper Jared VanBrunt and Chris Siracusa. Edwards and VanBrunt are All State players, and Winter made sure to point out Siracusa, who he feels may have been overlooked at times.

"Not enough credit gets given to Siracusa because he plays beside two All State players so he gets overshadowed aside from the eyes of the coaching staff," he said. "His man has never beaten him for a goal all year and you can't ask for anything more than that."

Sayville scored 63 goals while allowing just four through the regular season and playoffs combined. With a ratio like that, it's no wonder the 2010 Golden Flashes earned their first ever state championship. Assistant coaches Bob Schimpf and Al Ellis worked on fine tuning the attack and helped Winter in leading Sayville to glory.

"My great coaching staff made our job a little bit easier," Winter said. "It was both a great attack and a commitment to defending that got us to where we were. We had 20 wins and a tie and out of that we had 19 shutouts…you don't lose a lot of games if you shutout your opponent that much."

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