MacArthur edges Wantagh in semis

Far more than neighborhood bragging rights was on the line when MacArthur and Wantagh matched up for their first boys soccer meeting since 1982 at Hofstra for a chance at reaching the county finals stage.

The fifth-seeded Generals marched past the Warriors in the Nassau Class A semifinals thanks to two early goals and clutch defense down the stretch in a 2-1 win that positions MacArthur for a chance at the program’s second county title in four years against Garden City back at Hofstra Wednesday evening. Ninth-seeded Wantagh, which was aiming for its first county finals berth since 2010 and first title in 25 years, had been riding momentum after a 1-0 upset of top-seeded Jericho in the quarterfinals.

“You obviously want to win anyway, but against your crosstown rival it steps it up a little bit,” MacArthur coach Andy Atkins said. “Both brought it and I can’t tell you how impressed I was with [Wantagh] as they could have folded after those two early goals.”

MacArthur (13-1-3) jumped out quickly with Ryan Mehryari slipping in a low shot seven minutes in for a 1-0 lead. Nick Gino than extended the margin midway through the first half heading in a cross from Mehryari.

“It was huge, huge factor to get that early lead,” Gino said. “We had the wind in the first half and knew they were going to come out with a great start in the second half.”

After MacArthur controlled the pace early, Wantagh quickly stormed out of the gate in the second half with Nick Celli tapping in a shot a less than two minutes in to make it 2-1. The Warriors then nearly tied it a minute later with Brendan Harrington string the crossbar on a long distance shot.

“It was a tail of two haves,” Wantagh coach Tom Liguori said. “We played a really great second half.”

Wantagh (10-4-1) kept the pressure on with several other opportunities to knot the score. Liam Ireland was just wide on a shot with five minutes remaining after his initial attempt appeared to strike a MacArthur hand inside the box that wasn’t called. MacArthur goalkeeper Christian Bellia clinched the win with a diving save on a low Cerasi shot with 50 seconds left.

“The keeper got his hands on a couple shots that really scared me,” said Atkins of the clutch play by Belia, who finished with nine saves. “The defense stepped up.”

Wantagh goalie Matthew Reich was also clutch in the net recording eight saves including thwarting two close one-on-one chances in the second half that kept the Warriors within a goal. Reich helped Wantagh punch its ticket to the semis with a late penalty kick stop in the Jericho win.

MacArthur will vie to continue its magical fall in the county championship against sixth-seeded Garden City at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, after press time. Garden City (11-3-2) advanced with a 2-0 win over Island Trees.

“We can’t celebrate too long because we have a big game Wednesday,” Gino said. “We’re not done yet.”