Bay Shore tops Patchogue-Medford in overtime to advance to Suffolk AAA boys soccer semifinals
Bay Shore’s Hugo Moreno celebrates his overtime against Patchogue-Medford during the boys soccer Class AAA quarterfinal playoff game on Tuesday. Credit: Kathy M Helgeson
This compelling, scoreless match looked bound for a second 15-minute session of sudden victory, where one golden goal would bring a ticket to the Suffolk AAA boys soccer semifinals and wondrous thoughts about the possibility of going even further.
But there would be no need for double OT.
There were under 10 seconds remaining in the first OT between fourth-seeded Bay Shore on its home field and fifth-seeded Patchogue-Medford. But Bay Shore had possession. And then suddenly the teams were scrambling in front.
And then suddenly the ball was in the net — with three seconds left.
Hugo Moreno had banged it in off an initial pass from Hichem Abbad. Moreno raced toward the sideline with his teammates in very hot pursuit to celebrate.
“I was so happy,” the senior midfielder said.
The Marauders made the most of their first playoff game in six years with a 1-0 quarterfinal win in the Tuesday afternoon chill.
“The ball’s bouncing around and we just got to it last, man,” coach Mesut Karatuna said.
“Last year, we were young. We got our butts kicked all around. But it’s a special group. When you see something in a team, it makes you want to spend the hours and work with these guys, and these guys put in the work.
“There was no doubt we were going to make the playoffs. This was going to be the team to break it. But to do it in this fashion, go to the semifinals now, it feels fantastic.”
There’s a large mountain waiting Friday for this 12-4-1 team in those semifinals — top-seeded, undefeated Brentwood on its home field. It beat Bay Shore 3-0 earlier this month.
“Brentwood’s been there and they know what it takes,” Abbad said. “But we’re all so hungry to do it.”
The senior striker thought better of how he wanted to celebrate Moreno’s goal.
“I wanted to take my shirt off, but it’s too cold,” Abbad said.
The thing was, Angelo Arriaza scored from in close for Pat-Med 4:14 into the extra period.
“We were celebrating,” Raiders coach Tim Trava said.
The officials negated it — offsides.
“It was a good call,” Trava said.
Stiven Gereda made eight saves for his clean sheet. Andy Hernandez stopped 14 shots, including eight in the second half to keep Pat-Med alive. The Raiders finished at 11-6.
“I mean, obviously, it’s disappointing,” Trava said. “But we got a lot out of this group.”
