The West Islip boys soccer team was unable to get revenge on Brentwood High School Thursday night in the Class AA Suffolk County Championship.
The Indians, who ousted the Lions in last year's postseason, played spoiler again, this time winning 4-0 under the lights and in the fog at Dowling College. It was their fourth consecutive county title. The Lions last captured one in 1973.
"They work extremely hard, and they make you work hard. They have a lot of skill and they're the team to beat," said Lions head coach Ed Pieron.
Brentwood's Andrew Ortega scored the game's first goal with 3:43 left to go in the first half. And at the 31:14 mark in the second half, Brentwood's Ever Torres scored the second on a long kick inside the penalty area.
Minutes later, West Islip's Sean Sepe provided the best scoring chance for the Lions. He kicked the ball dangerously close to Brentwood's GK, Rual Bonilla, and both teams quickly piled in for possession. But Brentwood was able to get a hold of the ball, kick it back to midfield.
"We played hard all year. Brentwood took advantage of their chances early, and we weren't able to keep up," Pieron said. "Every team that faces them doesn't want to lose."
With less than three minutes remaining in the game, Brentwood got the ball to Torres, who then rushed toward Lions' goalie Sean McAllister. With the rest of the players behind, Torres bypassed McAllister near the six-yard line, leaving a wide open shot that put the Indians up 3-0.
Though upset following the loss, Pieron was extremely pleased with the effort and pride his team displayed.
"Sepe is going to be the third highest scorer in West Islip history, and the two players ahead ofhim played four years while Sean played for three. Sean McAllister kept us going this season, and unfortunately this just wasn't his night."
Game story, analysis, stats coming shortly.
