Commack boys soccer advances to state Class AAA final
Commack's Ferenc Bagi, second from left, celebrates with Brayden O'Boyle, center, after scoring during a NYSPHSAA Class AAA boys soccer semifinal Saturday in Middletown, N.Y. Credit: Adrian Kraus
MIDDLETOWN — Commack was scheduled to practice Friday at a school in Orange County in advance of Saturday night’s state Class AAA boys soccer semifinal at Middletown High. And so the Cougars were on the bus headed toward Middletown — Middletown, Connecticut.
“I guess everything happens for a reason, so we got a little tour of Connecticut, and that was OK,” coach Dave Moran said. “We still got to our practice on time. We got to eat a couple of extra bagels and donuts on the bus.
“We were well into Connecticut [before turning around]. I think the app just rerouted. There were some accidents and some traffic. It was an accident.”
Then the Cougars took the long way to get to the state final, too. They built a two-goal lead in the first 10 minutes on goals by Ferenc Bagi against Section III champ Baldwinsville. But with 18:53 left in that opening half, the game went into a delay — for a little more than two hours. There was lightning in the area.
Then with 1:09 remaining in the match, it was 10 p.m. and the lights went out due to a timer — just as Brayden O’Boyle was about to score for Commack. It didn’t count. But the lights soon came back on, and the Cougars got to where it wanted to go in the end.
They’re going to play for the title after a 3-0 victory in the semis.
“Very strange night,” Moran said. “I’ve never seen November thunderstorms. But all season long, we’ve had some weird things happen and the guys just kind of play through it. I tell the kids, ‘Eighty minutes of effort will overcome adversity.’ ”
So Commack will play here at 12:30 p.m. Sunday against Section V champ Fairport, a 4-0 winner over Guilderland of Section II in Saturday’s other semi. The 19-1-1 Cougars will be after the program’s first state title since 2014.
“Just a dream come true to be able to play with these boys in this atmosphere and finally make it to the game we’ve wanted to our whole lives,” said O’Boyle, the standout senior midfielder.
Like O’Boyle, Ferenc Bagi is one of the big reasons why the Cougars will be out there on the last day of the state’s soccer season.
The senior arrived at this field with 24 goals. Before 10 minutes had passed in the rain, he had 26.
Bagi’s first goal came 2:24 in off an assist from Ryan Schalk.
His second goal came with 9:55 gone off a cross from Jordan Gleit.
“He’s a handful,” Baldwinsville coach Tim Scheemaker said of Bagi.
He was the thunder. Then came the lightning. Commack took shelter in the gym.
The Cougars finally closed the scoring in the second half on a goal that counted by O’Boyle off an assist by Ryan Curcio.
On to the final.
“It means the world to me,” Bagi said. “We created a new family with this team. We made it far. We just have one more game to go.”
