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Boys Soccer: At SWR, DeMaio does a little of everything

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Three-sport athlete wouldn’t be the correct term to describe Shoreham-Wading River’s Doug DeMaio. Sure, he plays three sports on the varsity for the Wildcats. That’s only because there’s not enough time to play more. 

How many does he play?

“Every sport you could imagine,” DeMaio said. “I’m one of those.”

DeMaio is a rare breed among three-sport athletes at Shoreham. At a school where lacrosse is king, DeMaio spends his springs far from the big crowds. He’s not a baseball player or even a track and field athlete, the two sports that attract most of the athletes after lacrosse.

DeMaio is a tennis player, and a good one at that, filling one of the top singles spots on a team that has the defending county champion in Chris Kuhnle.

In the winter, DeMaio plays basketball, where his athleticism makes him a versatile all-around player.

It’s in the fall, though, where DeMaio finds his favorite sport: soccer.

“I live, love soccer,” he said.

Going into his senior season this fall, DeMaio has big expectations for himself and the senior-laden team that will join him. To help prepare, the Wildcats have been playing in the Town of Brookhaven Summer League, where on Monday DeMaio kicked in the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the team to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Bayport-Blue Point at the Wedge in Mount Sinai.

The Wildcats improved to 6-3-2 with the win, which was an often physical contest for summer league.

The Wildcats trailed 1-0 before Patrick Blemer headed in a cross at the right post from Dan Mahoney. It was Mahoney again who set up the game-wining goal, when he sent a pass in the middle toward DeMaio, who was able to chip the ball past Bayport’s goalkeeper in the 65th minute.

With the win, Shoreham advances to play again Wednesday against John Glenn in the small school varsity semifinals. The small school championship game is Aug. 3.

Even in summer league, every win is one to savor.

“It’s never good to lose and I want to keep playing,” DeMaio said.

Caption: Shoreham-Wading River senior Doug DeMaio (right) battles for position against Bayport Monday. (Credit: Joe Werkmeister)

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