Southold goalkeeper Grady Brigham follows siblings’ lead, makes his own mark

There’s nothing like having a couple of great role models in your family. About a decade ago, seven-year-old Grady Brigham watched his older siblings, Cole and Hayley, star as goalkeepers for their respective high school soccer teams.

Cole frustrated opponents for the Southold boys, while Hayley produced saves for the Greenport/Southold combined girls team.

“I got really interested in goalie since my sister and my brother both did it,” he said. “Just watching my brother Cole make incredible saves, it was really interesting. I was hooked on goalkeeping.”

Brigham said that he played the field at first but turned to keeping the ball out of the net when he was 10 years old.

“Getting goalie practice with them like that really made me want to continue what they started,” he said.

His siblings still offer some advice.

“They’ve just told me to be more confident, be more vocal,” Brigham said.

The 16-year-old junior has been, because the Settlers likely would not have reached the Suffolk County Class C final without him.

Southold lost to Riverhead Charter in sudden-death overtime, 2-1, on Wednesday, Oct. 28. That was through no fault of Brigham, who produced 11 saves, some of them spectacular.

“He’s been amazing all season,” Settlers senior co-captain Brendan Boyle said. “I couldn’t be more thankful for him. I couldn’t ask for a better goalkeeper out on that field. I’d back him 100 percent every single time if he was to be the one on the field.”

After making one vital leaping save, among other stops in the 1-0 semifinal upset at Port Jefferson on Oct. 24, Brigham also received some high praise from head coach Chris Ruggi.

“He’s done it all season,” Ruggi said after that match. “He made the decision and the commitment this summer to put in the work and with the goal of being our number one goalie. All the work he’s put in is paying dividends. He did what he had to do. He made the one big save. Other than that, he was secure with the ball and cleared it out with his punts. Vocally, he’s great at communicating to the team. We’re very lucky to have him.”

Brigham finished the season with 122 saves, third best in the county. He produced a season-high 18 saves in a 1-0 loss to eventual Class B champion Babylon on Sept. 24.

Entering this season, the 5-foot-10, 145-pound Brigham knew that he had some big shoes to fill. He replaced standout Travis Sepenoski, who was named The Suffolk Times’ 2026 Southold boys’ athlete of the year.

“I had pretty low expectations, going off how I played the year before wasn’t the greatest,” he said. “I wasn’t in the best of spirits, because he was really good. I didn’t want to put Southold down by messing up. But once the season went on, the better I got. I felt more comfortable.”

And casting his own shadow.

Brigham, who will play basketball this winter and tennis in the spring, made more than his share of important saves during Southold’s stretch run. After producing a big stop, Brigham said that he has learned to concentrate quickly, especially if there is a free kick or corner kick coming up seconds later.

“There’s always a little excitement after the save, but then I focus, and I try to direct my teammates,” he said. “If it goes to a corner kick, I’ll direct where my teammates need to set up. And I’ll try to be vocal.”

As well as he has performed, Brigham felt that there was room for improvement.

“My distribution could be a little better; playing the ball directly to my teammates’ feet instead of just trying to play it up the field,” he said. “I want to work on my passing because throughout the season I didn’t receive many back passes.”

With 13 seniors graduating this June, Brigham also knew that he would need to be a leader next fall.

“I’ve been trying to work on it throughout this year, being vocal on corner kicks, telling more of my defenders where to go,” he said. “Being a senior next year, I’m going to have more authority … be a little bit more vocal.”

As long as Grady Brigham continues to produce big saves, the Settlers should be heading in the right direction.