Thursday, October 1, 2026
In a half-minute span, coach Zach Gosse became convinced his Mepham boys’ soccer team had taken last season’s lessons to heart.
Though Mepham had yet to lose when it faced Conference AA2 rival Roosevelt at home on Sept. 12, the Pirates’ recollection of lapsing in the last 30 seconds of last year’s finale to miss a playoff berth could have weighed on them as an onus.
Instead, that specter would take the form of a chip.
With the game tied 1-1 in the final minute of regulation, Pirates midfielder Dylan Tuccitto stepped forth to snap Mepham from its second-half funk, blasting the go-ahead winner as the game’s final seconds ticked off. Mepham – putting two straight subpar seasons in the rearview – moved to 4-0 out of the gate with its win over the Rough Riders, and would stay unbeaten for a week to come.
For Gosse, whose team (8-2-2 in AA2, 10-2-2 overall) wrapped its regular season last week with a 6-1 league win against Sewanhaka – earning a No. 6 seed to return from a two-year hiatus to the Nassau Class AA playoffs – Tuccitto and the Pirates’ endgame surge to seal the win over Roosevelt set the tone for Mepham’s comeback season, and signaled its ship had been righted.
“We lost last year because of poor game management,” said Gosse, whose team meets conference foe Glen Cove in this week’s first round of playoffs. “We slacked off in the last 30 seconds and got beat. When I saw Dylan attack and manage to score, I said this team doesn’t give up, doesn’t switch off like last year.”
“(The players) were tired of missing the playoffs,” Gosse added. “To get back was our number one goal. And when they clinched, pretty early on, they celebrated, for sure.”
Celebrating, too, when awards are announced will be Mepham forward and senior captain Giorgios Karousis. Named Honorable Mention All-County last season, Karousis leads AA2 with 15 goals (10th in Nassau), adding six assists to also rank tops in the conference with 21 points.
All-Conference midfielder Jeronimo Norena has seven assists to lead Mepham, while senior forward Luke Fischetti ranks second on the club with six goals – tied for seventh-most in the conference.
Even as Pirates offensive standouts have crowded the conference leaderboards, a perhaps greater key to Mepham’s resurgence has been its defense – one of Nassau’s stingiest this season. Behind All-Conference senior John Murcia and fellow defenders Chase LaBorne and Adam Alvarez, Mepham has allowed just 11 goals all season, ranking second in the league behind reigning state champion Garden City (against whom both Pirates losses have come).
Jake Hislop – pulled midseason from Mepham’s three-forward front to take over goaltending duties – has been solid between the posts, presiding over four of the Pirates’ six conference shutouts. In six games the senior has allowed four goals, posting a save percentage of .826.
“Jake’s been incredible for us,” Gosse said. “Having his confidence, his presence in the back and his athleticism, that’s made a big difference.”
Added Gosse: “I can’t say enough about all these guys. They made up their minds to focus and get better. Now they’re back in the playoffs, which is where they believed they should be.”
