County champions!
South Side stuns Garden City
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Soccer coach Fred Paul, center, is hugged by Dan Alles, left, and Greg Cove following South Side's 1-0 double overtime victory over previously unbeaten Garden City in the Nassau Class A title game on Nov. 11 at Adelphi.
Jeff Wilson/Herald
They’re partying like it’s 1999 in Rockville Centre.
South Side captured its first Nassau boys’ soccer championship in 10 years on Nov. 11 at Adelphi, knocking off previously undefeated Garden City in the Class A final, 1-0, in double overtime on a goal by junior Ben Tetelman.
Tetelman’s first-ever varsity goal, from 25 yards out, floated over the outstretched arms of leaping Trojans goalkeeper George Spanos and into the net exactly one minute into the second 15-minute OT period. It gave the second-seeded Cyclones their fourth consecutive 1-0 playoff win and third straight in overtime. Senior goalkeeper Paul Casazza was spectacular in making 16 saves for the team’s eighth shutout in a row.
“This is a big one,” South Side coach Fred Paul said. “We tied Garden City 2-2 a month ago and our guys weren’t happy about it. They weren’t satisfied with tying them and that spoke volumes about what they’re all about. They’ve got tremendous desire and they never stop working.”
Tetelman became the fourth offensive hero for the Cyclones in as many games, joining Mike Marano (first round, Manhasset), Kevin Cook (quarterfinals, New Hyde Park) and Mark Romanowski (semifinals, Roslyn). “It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Tetelman said. “It’s a shot I practice a lot. It’s one of our set plays. The ball just popped over to me and I was able to hit it over the goalie’s head.”
South Side's amazing campaign ended last Saturday when it dropped the Long Island Class A championship game to Comsewogue, 2-0, at Hofstra. "We played a great game and left it all on the field," Paul said. "It was a great season and the boys gave it their all until the end."
Throughout the Nassau playoffs, Casazza withstood an onslaught and South Side (9-3-7) never had to play from behind. He made diving saves at the goal line, sliding stops at the top of the box and even leaped to punch a shot over the crossbar. Top-seeded Garden City peppered him over the final 28 minutes of regulation and during the first overtime, with Topher Dibona, James Mignon and Vincent Tavernese all getting denied from point-blank range.
“Nothing he does surprises any of us,” Paul said of Casazza, who has stopped all 55 shots to come his way in the playoffs. “He comes up big every game,” he added. “He kept us in it and we found a way.”
The Trojans attempted five corner kicks in the second half and nine for the game, but only a few reached Casazza thanks to the clearing efforts of Jeff Cohen, Greg Cove, Alex Norwood, Jared Monfort and Dan Alles. Most of its opportunities came as a result of crisp passing.
“They’ve got a good team and they were stringing passes together in the second half and taking a lot of shots,” Casazza said. “I’ve faced that kind of pressure all year. It doesn’t faze me.”
South Side created plenty of its own scoring chances and registered 10 shots. Romanowski had a header clang off the crossbar four minutes into the game, and another of his headers was stopped by Spanos with 30 seconds left in the first overtime. Just 90 seconds later, Tetelman struck gold.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” Alles said. “I saw the flight of the ball after Ben kicked it and knew we were county champs.”
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