SPORTS

Pirates push into playoffs

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Mepham made it to the upcoming Nassau County Class AA boys’ soccer playoff tournament the old fashioned way — by earning it.

The Pirates picked up a pair of wins and a tie in their last four regular season games to grab fourth place in Conference AA-III. With seeding to be determined after presstime, the most likely scenario had Mepham (6-7-1 overall, 5-6-1 Conference AA-III) getting the No. 11 seed and playing on the road Friday at the No. 6 seed, most likely Westbury.

“We can be tough,” coach James Koester said. “We’ve played well against [the top team in Conference III] we just haven’t been able to make the results stand up. I think [the team] is really excited [especially] because we haven’t been there in the last two years.”

Mepham closed out the regular season with a 1-1 tie against Herricks on Oct. 16. Sophomore Jesse Wunderman scored the Pirates goal—and the first of his career—in the first half, while senior goalie Blake Heller stopped seven shots. After bouncing back and forth between the junior varsity and varsity levels for much of the season, Wunderman made another strong impression three games before the Herricks tie and stayed up for the stretch run. “He showed that he caught up to the varsity level against Long Beach and I was happy to see him score,” Koester said.

Heller, meanwhile, has given the team a huge boost in net all season, along with a veteran defense that includes senior Joel Zambrano, junior Mike Meyers and now Wunderman. “[Mike] Meyers is a difference-maker in terms of his ability to anticipate the ball moving towards the backline,” Koester said, and also noted Heller’s contributions in his first season as the starter at the position, “He’s played well all season. He’s physical, big and a good communicator.”

Much of the offense has been provided by senior forwards Cory Gringer (six goals) and Simon Bahena (five), but it was a goal by Chris Willis that ultimately clinched the playoff berth. He scored the game’s only goal in a 1-0 road win over Elmont on Oct. 14, corralling a crossing feed from sophomore Michael Stutts and blasting it over the goalie’s head and off his hand into the top of the net. Heller had 10 saves in the win. 

“Those are the types of plays we need as a team,” Koester said, noting that Stutts had to do some grunt work of his own deep in the corner just to get the ball to Willis. “We have skills, but we also have to bring our lunchpails to the game.”

Mepham’s playoff run also included a 2-1 victory over Long Beach on Oct. 6, with Bahena and Gringer each netting a goal. “They’ve done most of the work for us in terms of goals and assists,” Koester said. Once they get possession they look for one another.”