Playoff Upset for Boys Soccer

Boys+Varsity+Soccer+celebrated+its+annual+Senior+Night+to+honor+those+players+that+have+dedicated+their+high+school+%28and+some+times+more%29+time+to+team+sports+before+graduating.+

Photo by Christian Gonzalez

Boys Varsity Soccer celebrated its annual Senior Night to honor those players that have dedicated their high school (and some times more) time to team sports before graduating.

On Wednesday afternoon, the 16 seed Patchogue Medford Boys Varsity Soccer team (6-6-2) faced off against 1 seed Brentwood (14-0-0) at Brentwood State Park.

The odds were stacked against the Raiders. They played 2 incredible games against Longwood and Sachem East to send them to playoffs only to be met with the #1 ranked team in New York State, and the #5 ranked team in the nation, Brentwood.

Pat-Med had played Brentwood twice in the regular season, losing both times.

But, the pressure was on Brentwood. As the #1 team in the state and the #5 team in the U.S., everybody thought Brentwood had an easy win against the 16 seed in the first round. In this game winning wasn’t an option, Brentwood had to win this game.

Sophomore Andrew Tapia scored the first goal of the game with a beautiful freekick, putting the raiders up 1-0. Then, Juan Yanes scored the second for the raiders, making the score 2-0. But, with little time left on the clock, Brentwood put one in the back of the net to make the score 2-1 at halftime.

In the second half, senior Chris Escobar scored to make the score 3-1, the biggest lead a team had on Brentwood all season. With 7 minuets left in the game, Brentwood scored another goal to shorten Pat-Med’s lead and make the score 3-2. The last 7 minutes were very intense and stressful. Both benches stood as Brentwood fought hard for a last-minute equalizer.

But it never came. The clock ticked down to 0 and the Raiders had done the unthinkable, they had taken down the giant. Something that has only happened one other time in Suffolk County soccer history, the 16 seed defeated the 1 seed. And the Raiders saw something that they hadn’t seen in a few years, a spot in the Class AA Quarterfinal game.

The Patchogue Medford Boys Varsity Soccer team will play at the 8 seed Connetquot on Friday in the quarterfinal game and hope to continue their win streak and move on to the semifinals.