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Mostly Cloudy OT heartbreak for Colts
Lose Class AA final to Hicksville
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Calhoun's Corey Weberlow, left, and Hicksville's Timothy Parker eye a loose ball during the Nassau Class AA title game Nov. 11 at Adelphi.
Jeff Wilson/Herald
Outplayed by No. 1 Hicksville throughout the first half of the Nassau Class AA boys’ soccer championship game on Veterans Day at Adelphi, third-seeded Calhoun came out with a sense of urgency in the second half trailing by a goal.
Daniel D’Ottone scored the equalizer for the Colts with nine minutes remaining in regulation and the title wouldn’t be decided until overtime.
Three minutes into the second 10-minute overtime, Hicksville’s Tim Parker broke the Colts’ hearts when he rose from a collision with defender Andrew Lief and with his back to the net, spun and grounded a hard shot past goalkeeper James Raheb to give the Comets a 2-1 victory and their first county title since 1989.
“He wasn’t going to miss from that close,” Calhoun coach Jim Cantley said of Parker, who scored both Hicksville goals on assists from Tyler Arnone.
“In my opinion we lost to a very good team with the best two players in the county,” Cantley added. “I knew we’d play strong until the end. I kept telling the guys to stay positive and not panic. They did a nice job of keeping their composure all year.”
The Colts (9-5-2 overall) earned a first-round playoff bye and knocked off No. 6 Oceanside, 2-0, and second-seeded Farmingdale, 4-3 on penalty kicks, to advance to the finals. Michael Guerra, Corey Weberlow, Doug Cohen and Raheb led the way.
Raheb made eight saves in the championship game, including five in a first half that saw the Comets set up shop in Calhoun’s end of the field. “James kept us in a lot of games this year,” Cantley said.
D’Ottone had the hot foot for the Colts in the postseason. He scored in every playoff game and against Farmingdale in the semifinals had two goals in regulation and also converted his shootout try. “He really came alive toward the end of the season,” Cantley said. “It was something we needed. He hurt his hamstring in the first half of the [championship] game and still stayed in there and scored.”
Weberlow scored a team-high nine goals on the year, and Guerra (team-high seven assists) and Cohen were rock-solid at midfield and sweeper, respectively.
“It’s crushing to come so close, but we had a lot to celebrate this year,” Cantley said.
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