Header by Bailey sparks Settlers past Greenport
CJ Bailey is a center back whose primary responsibility is to make sure goalkeeper Travis Sepenoski isn’t overworked. He loves heading the ball out of harm’s way.
“You want to get those balls out of there, especially balls in the air,” he said. “I love hitting the ball out on defense.”
The Southold High School junior headed the ball into harm’s way on Monday afternoon, connecting for his first varsity goal.
Bailey’s long-range header from the middle of the field turned into an unlikely goal and sparked the Settlers to a 3-1 victory over Greenport in a Suffolk County League IV game in Greenport.
The win was important for Southold (2-2-1, 2-2-0) against the defending county Class C champions.
“It was very vital,” Bailey said. “We needed this. We needed to win this game because we haven’t been scoring as much. Today is like a change. We got more goals, more shots, more chances.”
The Settlers had scored only three times in their opening four games.
“It’s always good to beat Greenport,” said junior midfielder Brendan Boyle, who added Southold’s third goal. “It’s a rival, so it’s a big game for us.”
“It’s a much-needed victory,” head coach Chris Ruggi said. “It was a league game, looking to start piling up league victories now that we’re approaching the middle of the season. So, this was a really, really good game to get a result like that.”
The Porters (1-4-1, 1-3-1) had taken the lead on defender Julian Restrepo’s score at 15 minutes, 22 seconds, and the Settlers were looking for the equalizer.
Southold midfielder Brendan Boyle looks to pass as Greenport defender Walter Purizaca stays close. (Credit: George Faella) 
Southold midfielder Jostin Cajas (right) takes the ball away from Greenport midfielder Jefferson Ramirez. (Credit: George Faella) 
Greenport’s Juan Vivas Flores (left) moves the ball past Southold forward Indie Riddell. (Credit: George Faella)
Bailey headed a clearance at midfield toward the Porters’ goal. Keeper Jesus Rios was caught well out of his goal. The ball bounced once behind him and into the net.
“I just hit as hard as I could with my head,” Bailey said. “I turned around. I didn’t even see it until I turned back around, and it went in.”
It was his first varsity goal.
“Amazing. Feels amazing,” Bailey said of scoring.
It wasn’t so amazing for Greenport.
Porters head coach Greg Dlhopolsky called it a “weird play.”
Rios, who made seven saves, is a field player who was asked to play goal.
“When we scored early, I think they were a little deflated,” Dlhopolsky said. “That brought them back to life, which was unfortunate. The game could have gone very differently if that hadn’t happened.”
It might have, as Southold got a big boost.
“It was like that for Pierson as well,” Boyle said of the 2-0 triumph on Sept. 9. “When we score our goals, it kind of gives us a spark. Most of the time we’re a bit on the less-energy side, but once we get that first goal, it’s like rapid pace, and we’re in it to get more goals.”
Senior midfielder Joshua Uguna, who scored the game-winning goal, added, “It made us realize that the opponent is also human. They make mistakes. That motivated us to be like, ‘all right, so we can do this. Let’s play together as a team.'”
It worked.
Uguna scored the go-ahead goal off a Jostin Cajas feed, from five yards out on the right side, 3:35 into the second half, for a 2-1 advantage.
“I just tapped it in,” he said. “Just happy to see the ball went in.”
Boyle added an insurance tally, from the right side, at 56:06, for his first varsity goal.
“We still have a lot to work on,” he said. “We just got to learn from this. We’ve got tougher opponents still to come. We’ve still got to keep working. Just got to keep moving. Got to put this behind us, because even though it was a win, we’ve got to keep going.”
Dlhopolsky noted that he started an eighth grader, a sophomore, two freshmen and seven juniors. There were no seniors in the lineup.
“A lot of what happened to us today was inexperience,” he said. “We’re learning every game. We’re very young. We keep telling them every game to improve, and they have been. We say mistakes are going to happen. You’ve got to move on. You can’t change the past. Learn from it, and then next time, hopefully you don’t make that mistake again. This team is coming back next year. Not that this is a throwaway year at all, but it’s definitely a building year for us.”
The rivals will meet again at Southold on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 4:30 p.m.
