Freeport seeks return to playoffs
After reaching the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, Freeport boys’ soccer is looking to once again earn a postseason appearance competing in a challenging league featuring Nassau County’s largest schools.
Freeport conquered its playoff goal last season by winning the last three regular-season games to earn the No. 7 seed in Class AAA and face defending county champion Plainview in the quarterfinal stage, where the Red Devils dropped a hard-fought 2-0 match. The Red Devils graduated seven seniors from last year’s team that finished 8-4-3 overall, but bring back some key pieces who will look to grab one of the eight available playoff spots in their 13-team conference.
“It's going to be a grind every single day, but the boys are up for the task,” sixth-year Freeport coach Craig Klasson said. “They're enjoying every single moment they have this season because they know it goes very quickly and seem like a family so far.”
Senior Lucca Noboa returns to lead the offense as a reigning All-County player. The versatile Noboa could see time up time at forward or in the midfield.
“He can literally play him in a position that we need him to,” Classon said of Noboa, who is a co-captain along with senior defender Kristian Hernandez. “He’s an excellent, excellent player.”
Complementing Noboa up top are senior Jason Villeda and junior Emerson Molina. Junior David Menjivar and senior Bryant Cruz also provide scoring options on the wing along with sophomore midfielder Kevin Leon.
The defense is anchored by Hefnandez, who is a strong one-on-one defender and a vocal leader in front of the net. Senior Aaron Gomez is also a key component of the backline as a returning starter while juniors Jose Molina and Carlos Bustos are poised to step up as first year starters.
Senior goalie Edison Rios will patrol the net after playing a few games last season as the backup keeper.
Klasson said Noboa and Hernandez provide integral leadership as captains with their work ethic in practices.
“They lead by example,” said Klasson of his co-captains. “Between training really, really hard throughout the entire summer and doing a lot of scrimmaging with other teams, playing in a tournament and holding daily training sessions, they led by example of the kind of team we want to have.”
Freeport kicked off the new season with three straight wins capped by a 4-2 home win against Uniondale last Thursday that featured goals from Angel Nativi, Noboa, Menjivar and Cruz.
The Red Devils host New Hyde Park this Saturday at 10 a.m. before traveling to Farmingdale Tuesday for a 5 p.m. kickoff. The team then hosts Westbury on Sep. 19 and travels to Massapequa for a late Monday afternoon showdown at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 23.
“The next game is always the most important game,” Klasson said. “That is what is the key to success taking each game as they come and just worrying about the next opponent.”
