Dreams come true. Just ask David Bernal.
Glen Cove’s goalkeeper provided the heroics to lift it to a 5-4 penalty kick shootout win after playing top-seeded Garden City to a scoreless draw in the Nassau Class AA boys soccer final Sunday night at Farmingdale State College.
“Ever since I was little, seeing the past county champions win, it’s always been a dream of mine winning this, and now we’ve finally done it,” Bernal said. “It’s a dream come true.”
It is Glen Cove’s fifth county title and first since 2022, when the Big Red defeated Garden City, 2-0. After knocking off the two-time defending New York State ‘AA’ champions, Glen Cove (15-2-1) advance to the Long Island Class AA final against Huntington.
“It’s definitely rewarding that we won. I’m glad that we had the opportunity to celebrate together, and I’m looking forward to making more memories,” Glen Cove coach Brian Smith said. “The resiliency, the grit, the mental toughness to get in front of the ball when the other team is really bringing it. We never faltered.”
Bernal’s heroics weren’t reserved for the shootout. The senior came up huge during a wild sequence in the final minute of the second overtime, first diving to deny Joey LoPiccolo’s shot from the edge of the 18-yard box.
The rebound fell to Jack Cobb, whose shot caromed off the post. After Matthys de Rechter’s follow-up shot was blocked, Will Buccellato served a ball in to Tommy Schreier. But Bernal made a kick save on the point-blank chance to force the shootout.
In the penalty kick shootout, both teams were clinical, with Schreier, Francesco Mazzella and Nick Fiducioso scoring for Garden City (14-5-0), and Luis Gomez, Hector Santiago and Jack Martinez converting for second-seeded Glen Cove in the first three rounds.
In the fourth round, Bernal, who saved a penalty kick late in a 2-0 win over seventh-seeded Bellmore JFK in the quarterfinals, dived to his right to save Collin Gibbons’ attempt.
“I’m proud of him,” Smith said. “We had a really good defensive showing, but he was the MVP of that game.”
Cameron Allan then buried his chance to put pressure on Gianluca Damiano. But the Trojans senior kept his team in the shootout.
That sent Kosta Tsirkas to the spot with a chance to clinch the county championship for Glen Cove. The senior’s attempt went off the legs of Garden City goalkeeper Jack Armstrong and trickled over the line, setting up a wild celebration for Glen Cove.
In the semifinals, the Big Red knocked off third-seeded Roslyn, 4-0, with Santiago scoring a pair of goals in the first half and Tsirkas tacking on an insurance goal in the second half. Bernal made six saves.
“I’m really incredibly grateful for the opportunity to win and grateful for being able to share more memories with the guys that we have right now because we’re winners, we're champions,” Smith said. “We all battled together and showed the grit, the resiliency, and the brotherhood, the family.”
