Don McGovern, who coaches East Hampton High School’s boys soccer team, said this week that the team, whose record stood at 5-3-1 as of Monday, was “in the hunt for a playoff spot.”
League VI, in which the Bonackers play, was, he said, “very tough. Hauppauge (at 7-2-0) sits atop of it, with 14 points. We have 11, so we’re not too far off. We’ll need 14 to get into the post-season, but we should be able to do so if we finish the numerous opportunities that we generate.”
The Bonackers, in a nonleague game played here Saturday versus Babylon, the League IX leader at 9-0-1, scored early and late to win 2-0. The first goal, by Nolan Serrano, with an assist from Jonathan Armijos, came eight minutes into the fray, but, despite continuously attacking, East Hampton wasn’t able to get a second one until Armijos, assisted by Juan Salcedo, found the nets with a minute and a half left to play.
Christopher Deleon, Diego Duke, Sean Perez, Ariel Garcia, and Salcedo — especially Salcedo — had credible chances as the first half unwound, but Babylon’s goalie, one of the best in the county, according to McGovern, kept them at bay. Salcedo was robbed of what looked like a sure goal in the 27th minute, and the visitor’s keeper parried another strong shot by him a minute later. A one-touch attempt by Salcedo went just over the crossbar in the 31st minute.
During the halftime break, McGovern urged his charges to keep applying the pressure, to “keep outworking them . . . it’s your game, guys.”
When he asked if there were any questions, there were none.
East Hampton’s midfielders and forwards continued to move the ball deftly toward the opponent’s goal in the second half, during which the team was awarded several corner kicks, but the Bonackers were shut out and Babylon remained a threat — until Armijos capped the scoring in the 78th minute.
Afterward, McGovern said that “this match was a good response to a poor defensive performance at Comsewogue,” referring to a 7-4 loss on Oct. 1.
As of Monday, East Hampton was in fourth place in the League VI standings, behind Hauppauge, Half Hollow Hills West (6-2-1), and Amityville (5-2-2), but ahead of Comsewogue (5-4-0), Harborfields (5-4-0), Eastport-South Manor (1-8-0), and Westhampton Beach (0-9-0).
Harborfields was to have played here Monday, East Hampton was to have played at Hills West yesterday, and Westhampton Beach is to play here Tuesday.
