In A League Not of Their Own

For the Bayport-Blue Point High School boys varsity soccer team, the 2010 season became more challenging long before summer workouts began. No, not due to the loss of several star players to graduation, nor a shortage of manpower due to injuries. Rather, it is a case of numbers—district enrollment numbers, that is—that moved the Phantoms out of League VII and back into their traditional League VI grouping. A small climb in leagues, yet, given the level of talent and past rivalries, a big leap in competition, according to head coach Jim Moccio.

"We love this league," Moccio said.

"There's talent up and down the schedule, and we've built up a lot of rivalries. It's one of the more balanced leagues," added assistant coach Greg Zaleski, "Every game will be a battle. There are no easy games."

In 2009, the team finished 9-5-1, earning a playoff spot (the Phantoms were eliminated by Westhampton 1-0). With this year's squad and schedule, Moccio describes this season as one that's "in the rebuilding stage" with a goal of simply returning to the playoffs. Last year's co-league champions Elwood/John Glenn and East Hampton will again be the teams to beat, with Bayport positioned "in the middle of the pack" in preseason rankings, according to Moccio, now in his 11th season as coach.

Only five starters return to a Phantoms squad that has six seniors, but also includes four sophomores and two freshmen. "We do feel like we're going to get better," Moccio said. "With this team being younger, there's a lot of teaching involved."

The Phantoms strength lies in its defensive play, which fits right into Moccio's style of play. "We are a defensive team," he said. "There are some teams in our league that will be scoring big numbers, while other teams will pack [the defense] in."  Count on Moccio to do much the same, especially given the experience on the backline, where senior defenders Jake Gerard and Mike Anglim man a defense in front of All-League goalkeeper Michael Falkenburgh. "We do feel very confident about our defensive play," Moccio said.

"There's a lot of balance in League VI," Falkenburgh said. "There's no gimmies. Every game will be close, and the coaches will do a good job making sure that we don't take any game for granted."

The way Gerard sees it, there really is no chance that his teammates will do anything other than prepare hard for each game. "It's all about raising the level of intensity," said the All-League defender. "The pace is much greater than it was in League VII."

While the Phantom's placement back up to League VI certainly has coaches and players assessing the competition differently than had they remained in League VII, Bayport is still the smallest district in the league. "We're the smallest team in the entire Class A (Suffok County's divisional brackets)," Moccio said. "Being in League VII last year benefitted us because we were a very young team. This year, we lost very few players, and the players are really committed."

While Moccio's team will rely on its backline, he does have a legitimate offensive threat in senior midfielder Ryan Gray. "We'll try and run a lot of our offense through him," Moccio said, adding that he'll rotate three or four players up on his front line, based on performance. Still, it will be defense first when the Phantoms kick off their League VI season on Monday at Amityville.

"We are a defensive team," Anglim said. "We are going to win on defense and hard work. And not advancing in the playoffs last year has fueled the fire for us to come back strong."