South Side's unbeaten streak at 11

Defending Nassau County Class A boys’ soccer champion South Side extended its unbeaten streak to start 2015 to 11 games last Monday afternoon when it settled for a scoreless draw at Kennedy.

The Cyclones nearly won it in spectacular fashion in the closing seconds, but the ball bounced off the football goal post, out of bounds, before Cyclones keeper Josh Levine headed it in. Levine made his way to the other end of the field to provide another body in the box for Pat Basile’s free kick.

“We didn’t play a bad game,” South Side coach Fred Paul said. “We just weren’t as precise as we needed to be. If we had a better first touch on a few plays, maybe we would’ve scored once or twice.

“You could tell by the kids’ body language they’re not necessarily satisfied with tying,” he added. “It’s clear what their mindset is. They understand the games we’ve tied are all games we could’ve won.”

Levine made four saves for the Cyclones (7-0-4 overall, 5-0-3 in Conference A-I), and Chris Moussavi made four stops for the Cougars. “We had one close call where they hit the post,” Paul said. “Having Josh in goal, we always know it’s going to take a great play to beat him. I haven’t seen a better keeper this season. He’s been through everything and has all the skills.”

South Side was riding a three-game winning streak — all against opponents near the top of the standings. They came back from an early deficit to beat Carey, 2-1, on Sept. 24, and last week defeated Garden City, 2-0, and Hewlett, 3-1.

In the only conference game the Cyclones have trailed all season, Levine blasted a free kick from midfield into the box where senior Matt DiLuccio headed it home to tie Carey just 10 minutes in. Basile, a defender with four goals, netted the eventual winner eight minutes later on a free kick from 25 yards out. “Pat’s not only doing a tremendous job at sweeper, but he’s tied for the team lead in goals with DiLuccio,” Paul said.

Basile scored a highlight-reel goal off a direct kick eight minutes into the Garden City game when he found the upper left corner from 20 yards out to open the scoring. “It was one of the nicest goals I’ve ever seen in high school soccer,” Paul said. Ryan Prendergast provided an insurance goal off an assist from freshman Joe Buglione in the second half. Basile and junior Thomas Doyle led the defensive effort.

Basile, DiLuccio and Buglione scored in the win over Hewlett. “Our scoring is pretty spread out,” Paul said. “We’re a lot different than last year in that regard.” 

South Side has six multi-goal scorers, tied with Carey and Roslyn for the most among Class A schools. Seniors Connor Byrne and Andrew Flores-McKenna, and juniors Prendergast and Connor Gallego have two goals apiece.