Sports

FLASHBACK: Relive past Mattituck boys soccer championships

Mattituck wing Peter Sabat in the 1982 championship game. (Credit: Suffolk Times archives)
Mattituck wing Peter Sabat in the 1982 championship game. (Credit: Janet Garrell, The Suffolk Times)

Mattituck wins Class C Co-Championship

Published Nov. 25, 1982

Written by Janet Garrell

HEMPSTEAD — Mattituck soccer forward Keith Locklear has socred only twice this year, but his second goal, on Saturday, might justifiably be called the Tuckers’ most important shot of the season. It turned his team’s one-goal deficit to Holland Central in the finals of the state Class C soccer championships to a 1-1 tie, a score that held through two 10-minute overtime periods and provided the North Fork team with a share in the state title. (Mattituck came into the game with a 17-3-2 record, while Holland, from Erie County, was 16-2).

Locklear’s timely tally, which came with less than 18 minutes of playing time remaining in the game, played on the artificial turf at Hofstra University Stadium in Hempstead, was a case of opportunity coming at the right time. “The ball bounced off a Holland player,” said Locklear. “I just saw my chance.”

Although it was only his second goal, he declared. “I was waiting for it!”

His teammates were waiting for it as well. After Jobie Ramsey’s direct kick — a powerful, perfectly played shot that sailed over the Mattituck wall of players and past the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Tom Beebe — had put Holland ahead midway through the first period, Tucker offense had been frustrated for 40 minutes.

“We were using all our options,” admitted Mattituck coach Craig Osmer. “It was a fairly evenly matched game. I thought our skills were slightly better than theirs, but they were fast — no doubt about it. They’re a good soccer team obviously. If they make the finals, they have to be.”

Much of the weight of the game lay on defense, a fact reflected in the choice of most valuable players in the contest. Honors went to Mattituck fullback Jay Burkhardt and Holland goalkeeper Mark Jauqyet. Burkhardt roved all over the backfield, breaking up Holland’s long passes and protecting Beebe, who had nine saves for the game.

Holland defense, which featured a trap with speedy fullbacks Kip Palmateer and Matt Kramer playing up plus halfback Jim Buckley stopping attacks at midfield, denied Mattituck a direct route to the goal. However, a detour out to the wings worked, especially in the second half, when Mattituck came out strong and managed to control the ball in Holland’s half of the field much of the time.

The 1982 Mattituck boys soccer team following their co-championship at Hofstra University. (Credit: Janet Garrell, The Suffolk Times)
The 1982 Mattituck boys soccer team following their co-championship at Hofstra University. (Credit: Janet Garrell, The Suffolk Times)

Wing Peter Sabat turned on the speed and was able to create opportunities for himself and for center forward Steve Mylett, looking for his 22nd goal of the season. That he failed to score was a credit to the skills of Jauqyet, who included several outstanding stops of Mylett’s nine shots on goal among his 19 saves. One, the potential game-winner, came four minutes after Locklear’s goal, when Jauqyet lunged and deflected the Mattituck striker’s shot off his left foot. Earlier, he had stopped a seemingly sure goal by deflecting the ball off his fingertips and over the crossbar.

The first 10-minute overtime belonged to Mattituck, which spearheaded its attack with the Sabat-Mylett combination and with halfback Sam Strickland working the ball through the midfield area and providing a threat with long shots, as he had earlier in the game.

Holland, desperate to score, turned aggressive in the final overtime. The physical nature of the game, apparent in the 32 fouls posed against Holland (and 15 against Mattituck), became stronger in the final minutes of the first overtime and in second overtime. Mylett, who had been shaken up in one spill during regulation time, was dumped so badly during a move on the goal in the final overtime that he had to be benched.

Despite the fouls, Holland came close to producing a game-winner as the clock ran down: once, in the first minute, on a shot by Greg Schurr (the team’s leading scorer with 31 goals) that just missed to the left while Beebe lay helpless on the ground after a dive. In the final minute Beebe made another dive, on a shot by Ramsey, and then saw a kick just clear the crossbar.

There are no winners in a tied game, and the disappointment on the faces of the players from both teams at the conclusion of Saturday’s contest was apparent. “A lot of us didn’t know about the (possibility of a) tie,” said Locklear right after the game. “We would rather play a sudden-death overtime.”

A tie is a little disappointing,” said Osmer, “but still, I’m grateful we didn’t lose. I guess you could call it a gratifying disappointment.”

After a certain amount of reflection, his team agreed. “Co-champion is okay,” said Locklear, an opinion echoed by teammate Carl Langhorne, who said, “We’re the better team and should have won, but we’ll take a tie over a loss.”

Saturday’s state co-championship was not the first for the Osmer family. Craig’s father Dick directed the Southold soccer team to a state Class C co-championship in 1979 and then followed it with a Class D championship on 1980.