Porters clinch county soccer title with win over Settlers

Kal-El Marine has experienced the bitter taste of defeat in Suffolk County championship games. Not once, but twice. He was the goalkeeper on the Greenport team that lost to Pierson/Bridgehampton on penalty kicks in last year’s Class C soccer final and was a guard on the Porters squad that fell to Southold in the basketball title game.

But on Monday, the senior and his teammates flipped the script and walked off the Diamond in the Pines soccer field in Coram as champions after a 2-1 triumph over rival Southold.

“It’s everything,” said Marine, who made 11 saves. “I just took it like, this is my opportunity. This is my moment … We don’t have the same guys as last year, but a lot of people stepped it up.”

It was also a special moment for midfielder- forward Jostin Cajas, who scored twice and snapped a 1-1 deadlock with 11:02 remaining as Greenport captured its first county title since 2018.

“It made everything for me and for the school,” Cajas said.

The Porters (7-6-2) will play in the New York State Southeast Regional at Diamond in the Pines on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m. They will face the winner of Wednesday’s match between North Salem (11-2-3) of Section I and Rhinebeck (13-11) of Section IX.

If the Porters win that game, they will reach the New York State Final Four in Middletown on Nov. 15-16.

“I think we can 100% make it,” Marine said. “We’re a good team. We’re a very strong team. We’re capable of anything this year,” Cajas added.

Cajas’ goals might have been doubly sweet because he missed seven matches this season due to back and foot injuries. He had two goals and three assists entering the game.

“I knew he’s capable,” Marine said. “He’s been through a lot of injuries. I was thinking this morning when I heard the lineup, Jostin’s definitely putting some in the net.”

Monday’s final was expected to be a tight affair. The Settlers (7-7-2) had won four of their last five matches, outscoring their opponents 19-5. They spoiled the Porters’ Homecoming with a 1-0 win on Sept. 20, before the rivals battled to a scoreless draw at Southold eight days later.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game,” Greenport head coach Greg Dlhopolsky said. “We knew Southold was playing really well down the stretch. We basically were saying, ‘We play one game to try to play one more.’ Our goal was to forget about everything else. Come in here, win this one, and that gets us another game.”

The Porters stumbled to a 2-4 start this season, enduring four shutouts.

“It’s been an up and down season,” Dlhopolsky said. “We always play hard. We really haven’t been healthy until now. It took a while to put it all together. But any season that ends in a championship is good.”

Cajas first lifted Greenport into the lead, with some nifty dribbling in the penalty area before depositing the ball past junior goalkeeper Travis Sepenoski at 12:58. Southold equalized at 46:04 as junior midfielder Joshusa Uguna tallied from 15 yards on the left side. That set up the Porters’ heroics. Marine produced three huge saves in succession in the 52nd minute. “I think I made three,” he said. “Honestly, I don’t even remember. Once you’re playing, you’re so locked in, you don’t even know what’s really going on. It’s just muscle memory. I don’t even know if the ball went in or not. I’m just happy I saved it. It’s a great feeling.”

During the post-game interview, a teammate came up to Marine and exclaimed: “Greatest goalie of all time!”

Cajas stepped up big again at 66:58. Sepenoski came out too far from the net to retrieve a ball on the right side, allowing Cajas to loft a 25-yard shot into an empty goal.

“I read that the goalie wasn’t going make it to the ball on time,” Cajas said. “I took a touch, got good positioning on the ball and took the shot.”

Southold head coach Andrew Sadowski felt his goalkeeper’s pain. “It’s not easy, especially because the hardest worker on the team is personally putting it on his own shoulders,” he said. “I know that’s what Travis is doing. Travis is an outstanding goalkeeper. I feel really bad for him.

“Greenport did a great job coming at us … We just didn’t capitalize on the chances that we had.”