Sayville Boys Soccer Falls 3-2 in Shootout

An even and hard-fought match to the end, the Brookhaven boys summer league soccer postseason all boiled down to an equally well-matched penalty shootout by small-school champs Sayville and large-school powerhouse Ward Melville to determine the winner Wednesday night at Coram's Diamond in the Pines park.

Tied 2-2 after regulation play and through double overtime, several shots by both teams went wide or high but despite the Golden Flashes's lone goal by Justin Liu, it was ultimately beat out by a pair of successful shots by Melville's Christian Marcel and Nick Bachmair to send Sayville back home with a slim 3-2 loss.

"No team deserved to lose, but they earned their win," said Sayville coach Jeff Scheck.

Melville assistant coach Andy Degrassi praised his squad for its defensive skills, giving special mention to Marcel, Bachmair, Alex Guadagno, Matt Gordon, Billy Gibbs, Vinny Battaglia and MVP Jake Labriola in addition to goalie Matt Kerman, who Battaglia also commended for his clutch saves on penalty kicks.

Melville entered the fray full-tilt, mostly winning the ball on kicks and throw-ins and beefing up its coverage after some dribbles slipped through to Melville's backfield. Sayville's Brian Lutcha launched the first offensive, firing two shots on goal about five minutes apart – the first from outside the box was promptly booted away by Melville goalie Matt Kerman; the second came from just inside the box but hooked right to land wide of the net. Guadagno, however, ended up firing and drawing first blood for Melville just past the sixth minute. 

Possessions stayed tight and the midfielders stayed on task, though the advantage had tipped for the next five minutes back to the Patriots – Marcel found a chance for a left side shot on goal in the thirteenth minute, and Guadagno's back-to-back corner kicks at the twentieth minute kept Sayville's defense busy. In the twenty-sixth minute, Sayville's Justin Liu had perhaps the luckiest chance of all, lining up on a loose ball and notching the equalizer from the edge of Melville's backfield just past Kerman, who had sprang forward to block the shot.

In the second half, Battaglia grabbed the lead back for the Pats in the fifth minute, crossing the ball from just outside the box into the net's left corner. Free kicks by Sayville's Dakota Edwards, who had demonstrated some daunting accuracy on corners as well, began mounting more pressure and teammate Matt Farrell eventually capitalized on the push back in the tenth minute for the 2-2 tie. A free kick on Sayville went out-of-bounds as the clock ran out in regulation play.

In the first overtime, on-field tensions came to a head resulting in ejections for both sides, though the level of play remained tough through the second overtime, where Sayville's Vinny Sakk slipped past Melville's backline for a shot on goal in the second minute leading up to the shootout.

Excepting the final shootout, Sayville goalie Dan Scheck made ten saves. Kerman tallied eight saves for Melville.