State final blowouts highlight weekend results
Two of the state’s top teams playing for a state title on a neutral field and often before a much larger-than-usual crowd, bring about a certain degree of parity. Except for this past weekend. From coast-to-coast, blowouts became the norm…
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Continue ReadingTwo of the state’s top teams playing for a state title on a neutral field and often before a much larger-than-usual crowd, bring about a certain degree of parity.
Except for this past weekend.
From coast-to-coast, blowouts became the norm where they’d otherwise least be expected.
Here are a sampling: West Islip boys 5-0 over Hilton Central in the New York Class AA final; Somers boys 7-2 over Amityville in the New York Class A final; Summit boys 6-0 over West Linn in the Oregon 6A final; and La Salle College boys 5-1 over Abington in the Pennsylvania quarterfinals. It was a similar theme in girls soccer this past weekend as Walt Whitman routed Sherwood 8-0 in a Maryland 4A state semifinal, and Massapequa (N.Y.) and Mount Notre Dame (Ohio) won high-profile state finals by three-goal margins over ranked opponents.
It’s hard to assess which was more surprising, Summit’s 6-0 win; West Islip’s 5-0, or Amityville’s 7-2 result.
Aidan Lodie assisted the first goal and scored the second as West Islip built a 3-0 lead before halftime. Lodie was involved in 12 match-winning goals this season, seven by scoring, five on assists. A 5-0 final comes on the heels of Brentwood’s 4-0 win in 2019 in the New York Class AA final. Three was no tournament in 2020. The 4-0 and 5-0 results are two of the most lopsided in New York large-school history. Brentwood’s 4-0 win was understandable in 2019 as that team was an undefeated national power, but this showing by West Islip was a shock. West Islip had suffered a 6-0 loss just three weeks earlier, and at that time didn’t figure to be a major player in the postseason. West Islip ran through the Section 11 playoffs, then edged unranked Westbury in the region final. But everything came together in Middletown, N.Y., site of this year’s championships. West Islip hammered former Top 10-ranked and undefeated Fayetteville-Manlius 5-1 before routing a Hilton Center squad that came in at 19-1-1 with marquee wins over Fairport and Williamsville North, and also defeated the Section I champ Mamaroneck.
Summit scored three goals in each half to bring home its first large-school state title. In the previous two state finals, Summit finished second. This time, the team made sure there was no doubt about the outcome. Nathaniel Deperro scored the second and sixth goals. The team was so comfortably ahead in the second half, they allowed a freshman to take a penalty kick — and he converted for a 5-0 lead at the time. Perhaps more interesting than Summit’s goal total was the fact the team did not allow a goal in five postseason matches.
Somers was stacked with firepower this year, led by Daniel D’Ippolito and Bennett Leitner. Leitner scored three goals in the team’s 7-2 win. D’Ippolito had two goals and three assists, giving him 36 goals and 38 assists on the season. He certainly has to be the frontrunner for LoHud Player of the Year. This match actually was at 4-2 at one point in the second half before Somers put it away with three more goals.
Whitman’s 8-0 girls playoff win over Sherwood was only a surprise in the fact Sherwood reached the state final to be dealt another loss like that. Whitman defeated Sherwood 9-0 early in the season.
Emma Frey scored 7:30 minutes into Mount Notre Dame’s 4-1 girls state final win over Walsh Jesuit, and she tallied another 8:30 minutes later as the team built a 2-0 lead en route to a first-ever state title. MND won the state semifinal 4-0.
Thalia Morisi Thalia Morisi F NY scored two of Massapequa’s three goals in the 3-0 victory over Shenendehowa. Massapequa won the state final also by a 3-0 margin.