On this day six years ago…

The boys’ soccer team traveled to Mattituck with an earlier 5-0 defeat on their minds. On a chilly, overcast day, the Bears took on the defending State Champions with 1st place in League VIII on the line. Sammy Lee and Matt Woodley provided the scoring, Leon DeLalio and Mike Juhas catalyzed the offense, and Eric Waxman, Tim McIvor, and All-County selection Jon Anderson–who also assisted Lee’s goal–anchored the defense in the epic 2-1 victory.

To that point it was only the third time in history that we had defeated the Tuckers, the other wins coming in 1983 and 1988. Since the ’04 upset we have beaten them once more in 2009. The ’04 squad eventually tied Mattituck for the League Championship, their first since 2001. Mike Hickey, a senior leader on that team remembered the game well:

It was my senior year and Churchie [coach David Church] gave us some of the history of our meetings. We had not beaten the team in sixteen years and the closest we had been was an overtime loss on penalty kicks in the 1995 County Final. The Red Sox had already reversed the curse and we were looking to do the same I guess. Church promised that he would treat anyone who scored to a steak dinner. I guess Sammy Lee was hungry for steak.

Maybe fifteen minutes into the game, he netted our first goal. We were all so pumped to have the lead against the team that left us frustrated and defeated weeks before. We played in unison and everyone knew that this would not take superior individual efforts, but rather a focused team effort. We kept fighting and possession was pretty even in the first half.

Towards the end of the first half, they took down someone in the box and Matt Woodley stepped up and scored a penalty kick to put us up 2-0. Mattituck was angry, frustrated, and losing focus. We went into the half with a 2-0 lead. They had not lost a league match in over a year and we looked to move into a tie for first in the standings. Throughout the second half, they fought with each other, complained to refs, and really deviated from their normal state of play, which was composed, tactically sound soccer.

Pete Carmel must have made a number a great saves to keep them off the board for most of the game. Late in the second half, they finally broke through our defense and scored to make it 2-1 with probably twenty minutes left. We kept fighting for possession and I distinctly remember being told to dribble toward the corner flags. That way, we took time on and kept possession. Church substituted every single chance he got just to take up time. Brilliant maneuver. He kept us right near the table as we came off because he knew we were going right back in. Finally, the whistle sounded and we went crazy.

Coach Mez [Jeremy Meserole] was our assistant and he had his revenge for the '95 County Finals loss. We were treated to a McDonald's dinner and when we got home, we rang the victory bell for a solid ten minutes.

Sammy Lee and Matt Woodley eventually had their steak dinner and I bet it never tasted so good. I further cemented the win in all caps in my senior paragraph in the '05 Res Gestae with, "BEATING MATTITUCK" under my favorite memories. We eventually tied for the league title.

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