Baldwin playoff run provides thrills

Baldwin ran into a familiar buzzsaw on the soccer field in the second round of the boys' Nassau Class AA playoffs on Nov. 3, top-seeded and once-beaten Hicksville. The Comets, who had already swept the regular season series and also knocked the eighth-seeded Bruins (9-5-3) out of last season’s quarterfinals, used a three-goal flurry in the second half to pull away in a 4-0 win.

The Bruins stood toe-to-toe with Hicksville for much of the first half, despite playing without senior All-County sweeper Stephan Tang and senior All-Conference goalie Vincent Pellegrino, both of whom were injured on the same play in a first-round playoff win over Uniondale. In Tang’s absence, freshman Peter Rafftery slid to sweeper, while senior All-Conference honoree Jarek Babb became responsible for marking Hicksville’s Tim Parker, who had previously scored five goals in the two regular season meetings. Junior Phil Flores, also an All-Conference honoree, remained an integral part of the backline. The Comets broke a scoreless tie at the 25-minute mark but Parker scored only once, midway through the second half.

“Jarek covered Parker man-to-man and did not back down,” Baldwin coach Mike Palumbo said.

Sophomore Dan Capone, who filled in for Pellegrino, stopped six of the 10 shots he faced, including a pair from point-blank range. “He is an athlete,” Palumbo said. “He’s a reaction-style goalie. The closer you are, the better the saves are.”

Capone found himself facing quite a few point-blank shots in the Bruins first-round victory over the ninth-seeded Knights on Oct. 29, a game that went to penalty kicks with Baldwin surviving, 3-2. Subbing for Pellegrino, injured in a collision with Tang during the second overtime, Capone made a pair of saves in the second overtime and watched as two Uniondale penalty kicks were wide and a third went off the post. “He came right in and he was vocal,” Palumbo said of Capone, who was 2-0-1 in three early season starts. “Even though he’s the backup goalie, we never felt like he was a backup.”

Rafftery led off the penalty kicks with a goal, with sophomore Lucio Sorto scored next to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Senior Chris Walsh, an All-County Honorable Mention honoree and the No. 2 goal scorer in Nassau (nine), followed up a Baldwin miss in the third round with the game-winning score, as Uniondale’s fourth shooter missed the net altogether.

“What a physical game,” Palumbo said. “They are always an offensive threat and we’re more defensive-minded. In the first 20 minutes they came at us with everything.”

After fighting back Uniondale’s early offensive, Baldwin opened the scoring on an outlet pass from Pellegrino to junior midfielder Joe Chapman, who found senior All-Conference midfielder Tana Weekes upfield. Racing down the right wing, Weekes ripped off a shot across the entire goalmouth that was punched home by sophomore Kyle Lindau.