Sports

Carle Place takes Tuckers down in OT of L.I. final

ROBERT O'ROURK PHOTO | Mattituck's Mario Arreola fighting for control of the ball during the regional semifinal against Carle Place on Tuesday at Diamond in the Pines.
ROBERT O’ROURK PHOTO | Mattituck’s Mario Arreola fighting for control of the ball during the regional semifinal against Carle Place on Tuesday at Diamond in the Pines.

SOUTHEAST REGION CLASS B SEMIFINAL | FROGS 1, TUCKERS 0 (2 OT)

The Mattituck High School boys soccer team’s hope for a dream season was cut short Tuesday in stunning finality.

Playing a Carle Place team that employs a ball-possession style similar to their own, the Tuckers and their fans were silenced by Billy Chiappone’s volley for the Southeast Region Class B semifinal’s only goal in sudden-victory overtime. The senior forward, assisted by John Aydogan, nailed a drive to the low left corner, giving goalkeeper Stephen Ostrowski no chance 11 minutes 22 seconds into the second overtime period to end it at Diamond in the Pines in Coram. It was Chiappone’s 11th goal of the season for the five-time Nassau County champions, who claimed their third Long Island championship.

Mattituck, the defending Long Island champion, finished the year with a 15-3 record, all three of its losses coming by 1-0 scores in overtime.

The teams proved to be a good match for each other. They both had chances to win it before overtime.

Mattituck’s skillful junior forward, Kaan Ilgin, blamed himself for the defeat while talking to reporters afterward, saying he should have converted opportunities he had. Ilgin was quite active, launching a game-high 11 shots and putting 4 of them on goal. He touched the ball 59 times and completed 20 of 25 passes.

Ilgin was nearly Mattituck’s hero in the sixth minute of overtime when he was sent through alone on goal, only to fire his shot a little too high, over the crossbar.

With a little over three minutes left in regulation time, Mario Arreola pushed forward a ball for Ilgin, who flicked a shot that goalkeeper John Guzzo smothered for one of his 10 saves.

Carle Place (15-0-1) twice came within inches of scoring late in the first half. John Aydogan struck the crossbar in the 39th minute and Dylan Klein slammed a shot off the right goal post with less than three minutes left in the half.

The Frogs came close again in the second half. An exchange of passes by Klein and Chiappone led to a header by the unmarked Klein in front of the Mattituck goal. Mattituck’s Oswaldo Aldaz cleared the ball away for a corner kick.

Both teams lost a player when Carle Place’s Matt Carr and Mattituck’s Joe Tardif collided with about 13 minutes left in the first half. Neither player returned to the game. Carr suffered a gash on his head and was taken to a hospital. Carle Place coach Allen Foraker said he hoped to have Carr available for the team’s next game.

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