Seniors Thomas Fargione and Dylan Fisher don’t connect on goals often — the former being a defender and the latter being a defensive midfielder — but the duo sure chose a good time to link up just minutes into the Long Island Class AA boys soccer championship game on Saturday.
A cross off a Garden City free kick lofted into the 18-yard box as Fargione leaped and headed it toward goal. Fisher cut inside the 6-yard box and responded with a header of his own to power the ball into the back of the net.
“It’s awesome, we’ve been playing for like 12 years together,” Fargione said. “To do that, it was just special.”
It looked like the perfect start for Garden City boys soccer. A minute later, when senior Jack Shorr finished the rebound off a shot from senior Jack Costa, it became exactly that.
Two goals in the first seven minutes propelled Garden City to a 3-1 win over Northport at Islip High School. The Trojans will travel to Middletown High School on Friday and face Section I’s Harrison in the state semifinals at 5:30 p.m.
It’s the fifth Long Island title for Garden City (18-2) and third since 1996. The Trojans, who enjoyed their first state title in an undefeated 2024 campaign, have outscored Long Island teams 75-11 across 19 games and 25-2 across four playoff games.
“It’s a legacy here,” Fisher said. “We’re really setting the tone. It used to just be a county final to look forward to. Now it’s a state final every year.”
Sophomore Joey Smith responded for Northport (18-2) in the 14th minute after a miscommunication along the backline left an open net for Smith to score.
“It’s an 80-minute game, you can’t let 15 seconds of the game determine how your season is going to end,” Costa said.”
Northport senior goalkeeper Dylan Naughton, who was brilliant in goal, made two of his 10 saves for the Tigers in the span of a few seconds in the 24th minute. But Costa’s shot and subsequent rebound fell in front of junior Gianluca Damiano for a quick finish.
Seniors Thomas Fierro and Owen Lucano continued to pressure for Northport, which lifted its first outright county title since 1980 on Monday, but Garden City’s defense didn’t break. Fisher looked outstanding as he won tackle after tackle in the middle of the field, being particularly dominant on aerial challenges.
Fargione and Koester were strong enough inside that Northport was forced to build through the outside wings, where talented defenders Thomas Schreier, William Egan and Jacob Cooper sat ready.
“We have so many guys who are leaders and battle-tested, especially in the back, that don’t always get the headlines,” assistant coach Sean Brady said. “They really anchor us.”
“We know with Thomas and our defense, it’s tough for teams to score on us,” Fisher said. “If we get the job done, put a few goals in, I have no doubt we can win.”
Strong hold-up play from forward Oliver Williams consistently led to promising runs behind him into Northport’s box. Assistant coach Luke Connolly, a team captain for Garden City’s 2017 Long Island championship team, praised Williams’ improvement since last year.
“We weren’t expecting this out of Ollie,” Connolly said. “He got bigger in the offseason and we’ve really, really grown to love him up there. It’s been huge to just take the weight off our wingers’ shoulders and give them space to create.”
As Fisher put best, “hotel rooms with the boys” waits for Garden City. Whichever hotel that ends up being, it’ll end up hosting one of the most dynamic teams in the state.
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
Comments are closed.