Ward Melville Fights for Another Summer League Win

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 large-school powerhouse Ward Melville and small-school champs Sayvillle 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 Sayville's lone goal by Justin Liu was ultimately beat out by a pair of successful shots by Ward Melville's Christian Marcel and Nick Bachmair, sending the Patriots off with a 3-2 win and the Brookhaven summer league championship trophy, reflecting a small sea of orange jerseys and smiling faces as the triumphant team hoisted it skyward.

Ward 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 PKs.

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

Ward Melville entered the fray fult-tilt, mostly winning the ball on kicks and throw-ins and beefing up its coverage after some dribbles slipped through to its 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 Ward Melville goalie Kerman, and 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 Ward 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 26th 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 Ward 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 Ward Melville's backline for a shot on goal in the second minute leading up to the shootout.

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