Plainview denies Oceanside in title game

The top two seeds in Nassau Class AA boys’ soccer battled tooth-and-nail for the ultimate prize Nov. 2 and penalty kicks loomed when lightning struck for Plainview-JFK.

The Hawks defeated No. 1 Oceanside, 1-0, for their first county championship since 1985 on a goal by sophomore Weber Nakagawa Duarte with 9:46 remaining in the second 15-minute overtime at Mitchel Athletic Complex.

Nakagawa Duarte took to the air and headed in a feed from Ryan Misiti, another sophomore, as Plainview (14-3-1) avenged a regular-season loss to the Sailors and advanced to face Connetquot for the Long Island Class AA title.

Oceanside (13-2-3) was attempting to capture its first county crown since 2000. It defeated the Hawks 2-0 on Sept. 24, with junior Giacomo Vacchio notching both goals.

“I wasn’t surprised it came down to Plainview and us,” Sailors coach Patrick Turk said. “We battled back and forth all night. Both teams played their hearts out. They converted on their moment and it’s a tough pill to swallow.”

Plainview’s Ben Selmer made five saves to post the shutout. He also got a little help from one of the posts in the second half.

“I was very happy with how we played,” said Turk, who was named Conference AA Coach of the Year for a second straight season. “Words are hard to find at a moment like this. The kids’ efforts were tremendous. Life’s lessons are all over the place in sports. I hope it won’t be long before everyone can look back at everything we accomplished.”

Oceanside won its first conference title since 2007 and eliminated Hicksville, 2-1, on senior Ethan Recchia’s double-OT goal, and Farmingdale, 2-0, en route to the finals.

Senior goalkeeper Jacob Raphan pitched the shutout against Farmingdale with some big-time help from Nicholas Maloney and Dylan Wassenbergh. Both defenders made point-blank stops of their own.

“I’m super proud of the boys because they stuck to the game plan and played with composure,” Turk said after the semifinal victory. “We had a wild 3-2 win over Farmingdale during the regular season and it’s always hard to beat a team twice. They played a phenomenal game today and all respect to them. We made a lot of big plays when we needed to.”

There was no shortage of big plays from the Sailors all season. Behind 11 seniors, they finished 11-0-3 in conference games.

“I really liked the conference format,” Turk said. “Every game you knew you had to play well to win. It was like a super conference.”

Raphan, Vacchio and senior Jake Christel earned All-County honors. Raphan, who missed last season, posted 9 shutouts. Vacchio led the team in goals with 10. Christel was the Defensive Player of the Year in Conference AA.

“Jacob and Jake are going to be missed tremendously,” Turk said of Raphan and Christel. “They were outstanding personalities and captains.”

Sophomore defender Dylan Wassenbergh was Honorable Mention All-County, while Recchia, senior defender Nicholas Maloney, junior defender Lucas Natal and junior midfielder Brennan Murphy earned All-Conference honors.