Lawrence rallies into title game

From a non-playoff losing record to the Nassau County Class A finals with a first-year coach, the Lawrence boys’ soccer team has done the impossible. 

The Golden Tornadoes storybook season raged on at Farmingdale State College last Saturday night when it upset previously unbeaten Floral Park, 2-1, with a second-half rally. Lawrence moves onto Wednesday’s title game against Mineola at Mitchell Field at 6:30 p.m. 

After the final whistle, the players mobbed each other in joyful hugs with new coach Gerard Lagasse right in the middle. 

“It’s my first year of coaching varsity soccer,’’ Lagasse said. “To be in the County Class A final, it’s unbelievable and a dream come true for me and the kids. The boys were so happy and excited. A lot of emotion.’’

The defense was sublime and led by senior captain centerback Emerson Mijango. “Just being a part of it, making history for Lawrence feels amazing to me,’’ Mijango said. 

After trailing 1-0 at halftime, Lawrence got goals five minutes apart from Brandon Moran and Kevin Mendoza early in the second half.

In two tries, the Golden Tornadoes hadn’t beaten Floral Park in losing in the season opener, 2-0, and tying the Knights 1-1.  Floral Park had allowed just five goals all year. 

The semifinal victory moved Lawrence’s record to 9-2-3 after being 3-7-1 in 2022. 

“A fantastic feeling,’ Lagasse said. “(Floral Park) is a great, well-organized team. I told them at halftime when we were down, 1-0: they looked defeated. I said, “listen we’re a resilient team. We don’t stop, play with confidence, keep playing together. And that’s what we did. We moved the ball around better and persevered.’’

The equalizer came 10 minutes into the second half when Moran fired it in from 10 yards out off a scramble. The game-winner was off a throw-in by Alex Samayoa. The ball ricocheted off a Floral Park player and Mendoza headed the deflection into the net. 

“We’ve been doing this since the beginning of the season,’’ Mijango said. “We go down 1-0 and, as a team, we don’t go down. That’s what I love about Lawrence. We get scored on, we put our heads up and keep going like it’s the last minutes of the season.’’

 The backline was flawless. Mijano, looking to play college soccer, was aided on defense by centerback Benjamn Perez. Senior striker Jonathan Valiente also was a force despite not scoring. 

“(Valiente) had a vital role,’’’ Lagasse said. “He didn’t have any points but was a big part of how we scored. He works his butt off for his teammates.’’

Goalie Gabriel Rosales was superb, making 10 saves.

“We knew after the second game (against Floral Park), we can play with them,’’ Lagasse said.  “They weren’t happy they had to play us. They knew we’d be a tough out.’’

Now it’s onto Mineola, which beat Locust Valley 5-0 in the other semifinal. Lawrence is also 0-1-1 against Mineola (2-0 loss, 3-3 draw.) 

“We’re a big big underdog,’’ Mijango said. “They’re probably going to be like “we beat them already, it’s going to be easy. We have to prove them wrong. We’ve been doing that all season.''

Mineola’s tactics are similar to Lawrence as a technical, short-passing, possession-heavy team. “We’re playing elite right now so it should be a battle,’’ Lagasse said.