Anthony Patiri's overtime goal delivers another boys soccer Suffolk Class B title for Babylon
Anthony Patiri of Babylon celebrates with teammates after scoring the winning goal during overtime to defeat Center Moriches. Credit: Errol Anderson
Anthony Patiri missed the first three games of the season and returned on capped minutes, working his way back from a health issue over the summer.
“I told him, ‘Anthony, don’t worry. You’re going to end up scoring big goals down the line when you’re 100% healthy,’” coach Dennis McGovern said.
Patiri, a senior midfielder for Babylon, already did that with a goal against Southampton in a semifinal. But on Saturday in the Suffolk Class B championship game, Patiri made a memory for Babylon boys soccer no one will ever forget.
Less than five minutes into overtime, Patiri broke a scoreless tie for Babylon with a terrific right-footed volley 25 yards out from goal, winning the game, 1-0, against top-seeded Center Moriches in the boys soccer Suffolk Class B championship at Southampton High School on Saturday afternoon.
No. 2 Babylon (13-3-1), the winner of six consecutive county titles, advances to face Carle Place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Harborfields High School in the Long Island Class B championship in a state Class B subregional.
“[It’s an] unreal feeling,” Patiri said. “I trusted in my support system, I got lucky and I brought it home.”
“This is probably the most improbable [title], because we lost 70% of our roster,” McGovern said.
Center Moriches (12-4-2) tried to clear the ball on defense but accidentally sent the ball into the back of Babylon freshman Richard Sorto. The ball bounced off him and set up Patiri for the winning strike.
“It’s a new group, it feels like the first [title] for all of us,” senior goalie Trace Cerrone said. “To be able to be part of three of the six county championships, it’s one of the best feelings in the world."
Neither Cerrone (four saves) nor Center Moriches senior goalie Hunter Bernhard (one save) were seriously threatened in regulation as both played well to come off their line to deny long balls and crosses. Center Moriches sophomore Alex Rotunda covered seemingly the entire field on both offense and defense, but the final pass always seemed to elude both teams.
The two teams split the regular season, with Center Moriches winning the latter matchup in October.
“I think losing to them in our last game in the league, it really put us on the edge,” Cerrone said. “That was our second loss [in league play], and I think that just set us up.”
Cerrone said McGovern told the team that “hard work and determination" would bring the win home when breaking the huddle for overtime. After all that Patiri endured to get to this point, it’s only fitting that he would score the overtime winner that speaks to Babylon’s mantra.
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
