Boys Soccer: Tuckers make it a three-peat

CLASS B COUNTY FINALS  |  TUCKERS 4, RED DEVILS 2

Despite playing slightly more than half a game with a man disadvantage, Mattituck High School overcame a difficult Center Moriches side to record a 4-2 victory and capture the Suffolk County Class B boys soccer crown for the third consecutive time Saturday afternoon.

The Tuckers overcame some adversity, losing sophomore left back Walter Jacob to a red card late in the first half at Diamond in the Pines in Coram.

“The heart and the will of the team just showed today,” Mattituck coach Mat Litchhult said. “They took the punch of getting a red card. They took the punch of coming back at 2-2. And what did we to? We punched back twice in a row and took the lead. They have talked from Day One that it’s never been done before, a three-repeat, and nobody was going to take it from them. All the credit goes to those guys.”

Mattituck (14-3-1) will play the Nassau County Class B champion in the Long Island championship game at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

“We’re just going to go harder,” said Stephen Urwand, who scored the game-winning goal. “We’ve practiced all year for these games. It’s time to put it to the test.”

Added Litchhult: “We’re going to have to pick ourselves up again. We’re down a man. We’ll to have to regroup. One of our starters can’t play. But we’ll figure it out.”

Mattituck had control of the game, grabbing a 2-0 lead on the strength of Ryan Finger’s head with 34:30 remaining in the first half and Mario Arreola’s point-blank shot with 22:41 left.

But Jacob was awarded his second yellow card for a hard tackle on Kevin O’Brien with 5:46 remaining in the half, forcing the Tuckers to play with 10 men.

Center Moriches (13-4), however, took to the offensive, slicing the lead in half on Edgar Amaya’s goal with 4:52 left in the half. The Red Devils equalized on O’Brien’s goal with 18:50 left in the half.

The Tuckers might have bent, but did not break as Urwand broke the deadlock off a breakaway goal with 16:56 left before sophomore Kevin Williams added an insurance goal with 10:03 to go. He scored from a difficult angle from the left side as his is shot banged off the far post and into the net.

With 3:43 left in the game, O’Brien was assessed his second yellow card, evening up the teams at 10 players apiece the rest of the way.