After winning its first-ever Section I title last week, the Mamaroneck boys soccer team shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. On Nov. 6, the Tigers continued their unprecedented run by securing a bid to the Class AA state semifinals, topping Corning-Painted Post 4-0 in the regional finals at Byram Hills High School.
It might have taken Mamaroneck a while to get going against the Section IV champion Hawks on Saturday, but once the Tigers got their first goal—which came off the foot of Milton Mancias-Magana in the 58th minute—the floodgates opened, as they were able to tack on three more in the half to come away with a one-sided victory.
That second half was in stark contrast to the first, which saw the Tigers struggle to create scoring chances against an aggressive Hawks’ defense. According to Mancias-Magana, the turnabout was simply a result of the Tigers re-channeling their emotions at halftime.
“It was just about getting back to what we do best; in the first half, we were frustrated in some of the calls that were made, but in the second half, we just came back and played our game,” said Mancias-Magana. “And once we got that first goal, we knew three more were coming; we felt like we found them out and we were just going to keep pressing.”
Mancias-Magana would finish with two goals on the day, while Philip Koutsatfis and Wilman Miranda each added one of their own. Mamaroneck’s dominance in time of possession in the second half meant that Corning-Painted Post wasn’t able to generate many good looks at the net, but starting keeper Vincent Repoulis finished the game with seven saves—most of which came during a first half flurry stemming from a Hawks’ corner.
We call Vincent ‘Superman’ and he’s been extraordinary for us this whole season,” said Mamaroneck head coach Rich Becker. “He’s done an amazing job for us all year and he was amazing today; we wouldn’t be here without him.”
With the victory, Mamaroneck, continued its unprecedented run, and will look to advance to a potential state championship game on Saturday when they play Section V champ Hilton in the semifinals at Middletown High School on Nov. 13 at 11:15 a.m. Hilton reached the state semis with a 1-0 victory over Williamsville South on Nov. 5. A win on Saturday would see the Tigers vying for their first-ever New York State championship the following day at 10 a.m. According to Mancias-Magana, the Tigers are hoping to see their fans make the hour-long trip to Middletown in order to give the Tigers some measure of the home field advantage they enjoyed last week at Byram Hills.
“I told the guys “there are people here, this is like a home game for us,’” said the senior. “We’re 30, 40 minutes away from here and they’re four hours, so I definitely think that helped us out.”
