Glenn repeats as county champs on Jake Piacentini's goal in second OT
Jake Piacentini of Glenn celebrates his overtime goal with 8:03 left in double overtime in the Suffolk Class A boys soccer final against Shoreham-Wading River on Sunday at Whitman. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
Glenn senior captain Jake Piacentini entered Sunday’s county championship game with just one goal this fall. His impact comes off the stat sheet in the midfield, winning tackles and swinging possession.
But when his team needed him most, Piacentini delivered. As senior Isaac Perez laid a pass in front of him with less than nine minutes remaining in the second overtime period against Shoreham-Wading River, Piacentini took a perfectly weighted touch into the box and slipped a shot into the bottom right corner.
The bench emptied. Fans sprinted to the fence surrounding the field.
No. 2 Glenn, which never held a lead until the final play, had defended its Suffolk Class A title by beating undefeated No. 1 Shoreham-Wading River, 2-1, at Walt Whitman High School.
“That’s probably the greatest moment of my life,” Piacentini said. “Coach [Lou] Hanner was saying it all week, that I was going to score a big goal in the game, and I did it.”
Glenn (17-2) awaits Floral Park for a rematch of the 2024 Long Island championship game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Harborfields High School.
Yet as Hanner put it, it might’ve been “game over” earlier had it not been for junior goalie David Palencia, who made the save of the year to deny senior Matthew Thomsen on the back post with 11 minutes left in the second half.
WHAT A PLAY BY DAVID PALENCIA.
— Michael Sicoli (@Michael__Sicoli) November 2, 2025
A potential game-saving save by the Glenn goalie. pic.twitter.com/7YQYLZ0LwZ
“That was just unbelievable,” Hanner said. “He’s obviously going to be our game MVP. He deserves it, he kept us in it and gave us a chance.”
Shoreham-Wading River (16-1) took the lead with 14 minutes left in the first half.Senior Tyler Nowaski beat his defender along the left wing and crossed it to senior Zach Makarewicz, who scored his 21st goal of the season.
Glenn responded through the hustle of Perez inside the final 15 minutes of the second half, with Perez winning a tackle in the offensive third before crossing it to Long Island’s leader in goals, senior teammate Cooper Kassan, who added his 30th score of the season to equalize.
“It’s insane, we were underdogs going into this,” Kassan said. “We didn’t let that stop us.”
Said Perez: “We worked the whole summer to become two-time county champs.”
Glenn defenders Ethan Alkelai and Peter Bell made life exceedingly difficult for Shoreham-Wading River to build through the middle of the field while defenders Thomsen and Aidan Decollibus made numerous stops for the Wildcats on the other end of the field.
It wasn’t easy. It never was going to be. But that’s what makes the moment so special for Piacentini and his fellow Knights.
“We wanted it so badly ever since the start,” Piacentini said. “We talked and talked about it all season. We just want to keep winning.”
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.
