Last night we received a nice surprise.

In the Suffolk County boys’ soccer coaches meeting, we found out that Class B and Class C League Champions would be honored in League VII since it is the only mixed-classification league. As a result, the Bears were name Co-League Champions with Pierson after the squads posted identical 9-4 records. Babylon was named the Class B League Champion with an 8-2 record. This is an atypical move by Section XI as last season two teams were not honored in a similarly configured girls’ basketball league. With the move, Section XI is acknowledging that Class C teams are at a disadvantage playing against larger Class B schools in the league pool.

The Bears lost one-goal games to Pierson (twice) and B Champion Babylon and lost their fourth to league runner-up Center Moriches. Pierson lost to all three B teams Center Moriches, Mattituck, and Babylon, and then lost their last game of the season to Greenport, 2-1, to move into a tie with the Bears.

This is the first league championship for the boys’ soccer team since the 2004 squad posted an 11-3 record, led by the All-Conference play of Pete Carmel, Leon DeLalio, Mike Juhas, Jon Anderson, and Matt Woodley and the All-League play of Dylan Hagemeyer. This is also the fifth League Championship in program history to go along with the titles in 1994, 1995, 2001, and 2004.

A seeding meeting being held this morning will determine whether the Bears play a semifinal game on Wednesday or move directly to the Class C Championship one week from Saturday.

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