Commack lays claim to Suffolk Class AAA championship with win over Brentwood
Ferenc Bagi of Commack gets to the ball ahead of Edilson Rivera of Brentwood during the Suffolk Class AAA boys soccer final in Islip on Monday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
It took three minutes and 12 seconds for Commack senior Ferenc Bagi to score the most important goal in years for the Cougars. It took about 55 minutes for junior Ryan Curcio to arguably surpass it.
But the two can wait to argue who scored the more impressive goal. After all, the Cougars’ season isn’t over yet.
No. 2 Commack defeated No. 1 Brentwood, 2-1, in the Suffolk Class AAA championship game on Monday night at Islip High School.
Commack (17-1-1) had earned its last county title in spring 2021, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, the playoffs ended there. When the Cougars meet Nassau’s Herricks in the Long Island Class AAA championship game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Islip High, it will be their first chance to win a Long Island championship since their state title-winning 2014 team.
“We’ve had great moments, we’ve had some tough ones,” coach Dave Moran said. “These guys stuck together through and through.”
Bagi wasted no time putting the Cougars ahead just over three minutes into the game, running off a long ball from senior Brayden O’Boyle before scoring the first goal of the game off the very first shot of the game. “We shot out like a cannon,” Bagi said. “We were just so motivated to win this.”
Brentwood didn’t put a shot on target until there was nearly 10 minutes left in the first half, but it was a quality one off the foot of senior Nelson Sanchez. His shot toward the right corner was met by a terrific diving save by senior goalkeeper Zach Bloom.
“It’s just a moment Zach will always remember, and something I’ll always remember about Zach, him coming up in big moments,” Moran said.
Curcio added a brilliant second goal for Commack, pulling the ball back and taking a left-footed shot that drifted into the top right corner. “I saw him out of the corner of my eye, so I had to do a fake shot, especially because of the rain,” he said.
Brentwood (17-1-1), which had dominated the final 20 minutes of the first half and consistently threatened to score, quickly responded about a minute later as a goal by senior Cristian Banegas made it a 2-1 game.
However, Commack didn’t allow another shot on target for the rest of the game.
A defense of sophomore Dylan McDonough, senior captain Luke McDonough, senior Sebastian Troncoso and senior Joedan Gleit, with relentless hustle from midfielders Curcio and senior Mico Tuccilo, held a formidable Spartans offense in check.
Curcio wrote the number “7,299,600'' on his right wrist. It’s exactly how many inches away Commack is from Middletown and the state tournament, and the Cougars took one more step toward that goal.
“It’s something I never experienced,” O’Boyle said. “It’s something I’m so grateful for that I can do it once in my high school career.”
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.
