Late goal sends Wantagh to playoffs

Longtime Wantagh boys’ soccer head coach Tom Liguori has instilled a tradition to inspire his teams before playoff games showing clips of the 1992 state title team he played on that marked the last time the Warriors won a championship.

It has been awhile since Liguori has been able to dust out the video and for most of the team's must-win regular season finale it appeared the wait would continue before some late heroics ensued. 

With time winding down and needing a goal to extend its season, Damien Crowley deflected in a long throw-in off his chest into the net from Jack Dankenbrink with just 30 seconds remaining for a dramatic 2-1 home win Oct. 17 against Friends Academy that clinched the final playoff spot in Class A for Wantagh (5-5-3). It marks Wantagh’s first postseason appearance since it reached the county semifinals in 2017. 

“Talk about dramatic not only getting in but getting in in the remaining seconds,” Liguori said. “It was so surreal and a great, great feeling.”

The Friends match followed back-to-back losses to North Shore (2-1) and Locust Valley (2-0) where the Warriors missed out on a chance to clinch that long coveted playoff spot. It came three weeks after a 3-0 loss to Friends, which was eliminated from playoff contention with its loss to Wantagh in the rematch. 

Wantagh reached the postseason in large part due to its strong defensive play with five shutouts and holding teams to a goal or less in eight matches. The backline has featured strong contributions by John Nocera, Crowley, Logan Jaramillo, Gianluca Stornello, Patrick Iskander and Nico Petrocelli as defensive central midfielder. James Ackermann has emerged as the starting goalkeeper after previously splitting time with Zach Henglein before an injury cut short his season.

Ackermann stepped up big in a crucial 1-1 draw with Locust Valley on Sept. 21 with eight saves. Justin Catanzaro assured Wantagh came away with a point by scoring the tying goal with just three seconds left. 

“In the end that was a real important point for us,” Liguori said. “They are the cardiac kids.”

The offense features multiple weapons led by Jared Fernandez, who leads the team with eight points, Alex Barberio, Joshua Henriques and Jesse Vanorden. Senior Kevin Kramer, who earned All-County honorable mention honors last year and is co-captain with Vanorden, missed most of the season with hamstring injury before returning to action in the Locust Valley game on Oct. 13. 

The Warriors first playoff game in six years will be a stiff challenge at top-seeded Floral Park on Tuesday in the quarterfinals after press time with a win advancing Wantagh to the semifinals on Sunday at Farmingdale State. Floral Park (9-0-1) opened the season with seven straight shutouts and has only surrendered four goals on the season, but Liguori hopes seeing championship moments from the 1992 team will provide inspiration for an upset. 

“We will show them clips of the 92 state championship team that the alumni have made to pump them up in the days leading up to the big game,” Liguori said. “They're excited for the opportunity.”