Wantagh has unfinished business

After rolling through the regular season a year ago, the Wantagh boys’ soccer team ended its 2013 campaign with a bitter taste following a 1-0 upset loss to Bellmore-JFK in the Nassau County Class A playoff quarterfinals.

The sting of falling as the top seed following a 9-1-1-conference season is a motivating factor for the Warriors. Wantagh returns six starters off last year’s team that finished 10-3-2 overall and will work toward making the 2014 season last longer into fall.

“For the returning players, there is some unfinished business,” said Wantagh head coach Tom Ligouri, who played on the school’s last state championship boys’ soccer team in 1992. “They learned last year that you can never let up in this sport.”

Some pieces of last season’s Conference A-1 regular season title were lost to graduation in tri-captains Lucas Neruda, Joseph O’Halloran and Patrick Quigley, who earned All-State honors. Neruda was a standout goalie who recorded 12 shutouts as a senior.

Among five of the returning starters who are seniors is reigning Conference A1 Player of the Year Chris Taibi, who is one of three captains.

“We have some high expectations for him to be one of our key leaders,” Ligouri said of Taibi. “We are really counting on him.”

Also taking on a leadership role as captains with Taibi are seniors Jonathan Alter and Danny Palazzolo. Alter earned All-County Honorable Mention honors after scoring eight goals and was named All-Conference for defense. “They are three good captains,” said Ligouri, pointing to how the trio helped lead offseason conditioning workouts. “The team entered preseason in really good shape.”

Other senior starters back for their final season of high school soccer are midfielders Jordan Sabinsky and Chris Pieri, who received All-Conference accolades as a junior. Senior forward Anthony Testa is starting this season after contributing off the bench in 2013 and scoring the game-winning goal against eventual state champion Jericho. Senior Frank Reilly is a versatile player who can take the field at any position.

Juniors slated to start include last year’s JV standout Joseph Graham and Michael Derham, who came off the bench on varsity as a sophomore. Sophomore Michael Quigley started as a freshman last year and helps anchor the Warrior defense. Another young starter is freshman Nick Cerasi, who played on JV as an eighth grader and came up to varsity for the playoffs.

Junior Jonathan Tanner is slotted in as starting goalie entering the season and made nine saves in a 3-0 non-league loss to West Islip on Sept. 6. Also capable of patrolling the net are juniors Ryan Devito and Will O’Brien.

A new addition is assistant coach Franco Zagari, who Ligouri says has been a huge help in developing his players.

After opening conference play against Plainedge, South Side and Great Neck North, Wantagh faces Bellmore-JFK in rematch of last year’s quarterfinal this Friday at home starting at 4:30 p.m.

“Our goal is to be playing our best soccer at the end of the season,” Ligouri said. “We are taking it one day at a time.”