SWR boys soccer team’s perfect season ends at county championship

Throughout the regular season, whenever the boys’ soccer team at Shoreham-Wading River fell behind or gave up the equalizer, they had an answer. They always found a way to win.

Because of this, the Wildcats brought a flawless 15-0 record and a top-five ranking in New York state into the playoffs. 

After defeating Islip 4-0 in the Suffolk County Class A semifinals, Shoreham-Wading River was tasked with taking down Elwood/John Glenn in the Suffolk County championships. The two teams played just two weeks prior, closing out the regular season, and the Wildcats narrowly escaped as Zach Makarewicz scored the game-winner in overtime that sealed the league championship.

It was one of those games that needed a response — that time, the Wildcats were there. 

But in the championship, Elwood/John Glenn got their revenge. The Knights got the victory in overtime with Jake Piacentini finding the game-winner with eight minutes remaining before penalty kicks. For the first time this season, the Wildcats looked up at the scoreboard at Walt Whitman High School on Sunday to see: Knights 2, Wildcats 1. Their season ended, leaving behind questions on what could have been.

Shoreham-Wading River got on the board first with 14 minutes left in the first half as Tyler Nowaski dribbled past two defenders flanking down the left-hand side before scooting it over to the center of the goal, where Makarewicz tipped it past the goalie with finesse. It was Makarewicz’s 21st goal of the season, which landed him sixth in all of Suffolk County for goals scored in his junior campaign.

Though both teams made runs forward, there were no true opportunities to score the rest of the game. It looked as if SWR would escape with a 1-0 victory until there was a blunder on the defensive end. The ball was played into the back line, where two defenders found themselves so close together that they were unable to get enough space to get a pass by the Knights’ Isaac Perez, who came running full speed to put pressure on the ball.

Perez got his foot on the pass, and the ball leaked toward SWR’s end of the field. With free rein, the senior sprinted ahead and found a trailing, wide-open Cooper Kassan, who found the back of the net for the 30th time this season to equalize the game at 1-1.

It was a devastating blow to the Wildcats, who had all the momentum up until that point in the game. 

But the Wildcats, as they’ve done all year long, put their heads down and tried to answer. Just three minutes later, Matthew Thomsen had a chance to score on an almost wide-open net. The senior got the ball in the air on a perfect touch towards the net, only to have David Palencia, Glenn’s junior goalkeeper, dive across the net out of nowhere and make an incredible save. 

As it did in the season finale, the game between the two powerhouses went into overtime, where the Wildcats tried to manufacture the game-winner. 

“I thought we were the better team out there,” SWR head coach Dani Braga said. “I truly feel like we deserved to win that game. But honestly, I thought the officiating was very suspect today.”

Nowaski, who was a threat all game long, got a pass in the box with a defender draped all over his back in the first overtime period. As he turned to goal to try to attempt a shot, it looked as if the defender yanked him down for a clear penalty, only to get it waved away by the referee. There was also what looked like a handball in the box by the Knights later in overtime.

“There was a bunch of stuff like that over the course of the day, and I don’t know what to make of it,” Braga said. “To end the game that way with a team this talented is a tough pill to swallow right now.”

After the loss, Braga, who is in his first season coaching the Wildcats, walked around and acknowledged every player on the team with either a head embrace or a handshake. A win would have given the Wildcats their first County championship in 20 years.

“These kids have done everything I have asked of them all season,” Braga said. “They never questioned anything. They never questioned fitness. They never questioned positioning. They believed just as much in me as I believed in them. Sometimes this just game sucks.”