Tuckers fall in summer soccer league playoff, but fight to the finish

Success doesn’t necessarily have to be in the form of winning a championship or even reaching the playoffs. Sometimes it is all about making progress and improving.

Exhibit A: The Mattituck H.S. boys soccer team when competing in the Town of Brookhaven Summer League. The Tuckers, the smallest school in the league, managed to hold their own against larger schools, forging a 4-6 record. Mattituck (Class B) defeated such Class A sides as Mount Sinai, Sayville and Bayport/Blue Point, including a team in its class, Center Moriches.

Then came the Tuckers’ biggest test of the summer, a first-round playoff clash against Class AA Centereach in Center Moriches on Wednesday, July 31.

While it looked like a David vs. Goliath match-up, the Tuckers acquitted themselves well. They battled the Cougars to a scoreless tie until three and a half minutes remained in the 60-minute regulation. Centereach was awarded on what Mattituck head coach Dan O’Sullivan called a questionable penalty kick converted for a 1-0 victory.

“The game had the feeling of a county final,” O’Sullivan said. “It was chippy. It was intense. Both teams were going at it. There were guys that had started the summer at certain spots, that were playing in different positions by the end of the summer, which really shows the importance and the growth and transformation.”

Mattituck players walked off the field disappointed, but O’Sullivan stressed the positive side of their experience. “Of course, they were all frustrated and upset,” he said. “I had a conversation of how proud we were of the whole program-wide effort, and that there were games that we didn’t have our full complement, but younger guys stepped up. They were willing to play positions that they weren’t used to.”

Because high school soccer has open substitutions, players have been called on to play various positions, whether as a defender at defensive midfield or a midfielder in the striker role.

Sophomore forward Connor Searle, who recorded eight goals and six assists in his varsity debut, and who struck twice in a 2-0 win at Center Moriches on June 30, did not play the second half of the summer season due to a sprained ankle.

In his place was junior Andy Mancia, who scored four goals. “He was one of our second or third options last year,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s going to be counted on for some more goals this year. Aside from the scoring, it’s the guys that were doing the other stuff.”

That includes Anthony Soto running the midfield and being a playmaker, as well as senior Corey Dickerson and juniors Charlie Carter and Frankie Secaida showing the younger newcomers the varsity ropes.

“The intangibles,” O’Sullivan said. “They know what was expected from years past. They showed the younger guys that this is what you do when coach puts you out there. There are different roles. There are different responsibilities. It’s not always just scoring goals but just being there for the team.”

Carter and Secaida stood out as defensive midfielders. “Charlie Carter, just his physical presence in the middle of the field, and Frankie Secaida. He’s kind of like our Swiss Army knife,” O’Sullivan said. “In the playoff game, he started as an outside midfielder. He played center back at points this summer. He’s played outside back. He’s played up top. He and Charlie have played quite a few minutes together as central defensive midfielders. Some of the younger guys on the bench were like, ‘Wow, he looks like he’s been doing that forever,’ because he’s just so comfortable.”

The Mattituck head coach also used five formations to see where players were most comfortable and to be flexible to change tactics this fall. “I wanted to try something new every game,” he said.

O’Sullivan won’t get the team together until its first practice session on Monday, Aug. 25. Mattituck kicks off their 90th season with a non-league match against Half Hollow Hills West at Diamond in the Pines in Coram on the first day of school, Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 4:30 p.m. The Tuckers have two big matches circled on their calendar, visiting archrival Center Moriches on Sept. 30 and hosting the Red Devils at Homecoming on Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m.

O’Sullivan will be aided by two experienced assistant coaches — Ed Barbante, who had been the boys’ junior varsity coach, and former Mattituck head coach Will Hayes, who will be a volunteer coach.