Amityville boys soccer's Aiden Johnson scores twice in win over Glenn
Aiden Johnson of host Amityville scores the second of his two goals against Glenn during a Suffolk League III boys soccer game on Tuesday. Credit: David Meisenholder
When Aiden Johnson scores, he normally celebrates by running to his teammates along Amityville boys soccer’s sideline. He didn’t do that Tuesday afternoon — running instead into the arms of teammate Xavian Jackson — but in all fairness, there was nothing normal about his goal.
The senior, taking a set piece around 25 yards from goal along the right sideline, smashed an absolute screamer into the top left corner to give Amityville an early lead in the first half, kickstarting the team’s 2-1 home win over a previously undefeated Glenn side.
“It was a tight angle,” Johnson said. “The only thing on my mind was just to drive it as hard as I can toward that left side, and that’s exactly what happened . . . It was all adrenaline from there.”
“I was stunned in the best way possible,” coach Mike Abbondondolo said.
The jaw-dropping goal gave Amityville an early lead on the same day the program was honoring the 10-year anniversary of the first Amityville team to win the state tournament back in 2015.
Several members of the 2015 side attended the game, watching next to the NYSPHSAA state champion banner and trophy that assistant coach Chris Gannon brought outside. Abbondondolo also had the team watch highlights of the 2015 team before the game.
“Those guys paved the way and got the next generation to start believing as well,” Abbondondolo said.
Johnson and his teammates certainly made their community proud as Amityville (3-2-1) hustled their way to win the majority of 50-50 balls in the midfield. Still, Glenn had dominated scoring chances in the first half but struggled to put the ball on frame.
Amityville senior center back Anthony Salvador never seemed to be out of position, shutting down any of Glenn’s attempts at playing the long ball.
“He’s the kind of guy all the kids gravitate toward,” Abbondondolo said.
Yet in a game where Glenn (4-1) continued knocking on the door of an equalizer, Johnson again played the hero by netting his second goal of the game in the 51st minute. Sophomore Nico Annunziato-Green did well to win possession before finding Jackson, who laid off a perfect pass for Johnson to bury into the bottom left corner.
Glenn’s Cooper Kassan curled in a free kick from the left side of the field into the far corner of the net to cut the lead to one inside the final five minutes of the game, but Amityville managed to hold off the Knights to earn the win.
“With this team, we keep [the result] and hold it,” Johnson said. “We take it personal, and the next practice and next game we go even harder to try to win it another way.”
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.
