Boys Soccer: SWR’s 4-0 win against Jericho provides great playoff prep
It’s not a stretch to view Saturday’s Jericho vs. Shoreham-Wading River boys soccer game as a possible preview of the Long Island Class A final.
And, if that is the case, that is just fine with SWR, which was delighted with the result of the non-league game. Nick Nowak bagged a hat trick and an assist, Owen Caraftis had two assists and Ryan Menno supplied a goal and an assist for the Wildcats in their 4-0 blanking of a quality Jericho team at Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field in Shoreham.
The soccer on both sides was well-played. SWR (8-3-1) was on its game, playing with purpose, using one- and two-touch passing to play balls to feet.
With the playoffs fast approaching, it was just the sort of preparation SWR was looking for.
“I think we moved the ball exceptionally well,” said SWR coach Rob Mancuso, whose team will make a sixth straight appearance in the playoffs. “We’ve really grown into that this season and, you know, the numbers kind of show it. We played the ball on the ground well. We filled in spaces where we needed to be. We were aggressive to the first and second ball. I couldn’t be happier.”
It’s easy to be happy, too, when a team has a senior striker like Nowak, a clinical finisher with pace.
With Saturday’s tallies, Nowak has 12 goals to go with four assists this season, his third as a varsity starter.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Mancuso said. “We kind of expected it from him. He’s been a special player for a while.”
“He played right back when he was a sophomore and then last year and this year, we’ve used more up top,” the coach continued. “He’s just incredibly fast and he has a great touch on the ball. His first touch is just soft and close to him. And you can see when he puts his head down and focuses, he finishes.”
Asked if scoring goals brings him joy, a grinning Nowak replied, “It always puts a smile on my face.”
Nowak scored the game’s first two goals within 2 minutes, 48 seconds of each other in the first half. The first one was a beauty. Nowak ran onto a ball Menno laid forward for him on the right flank, nailing a low, right-footed attempt in off the far left goalpost. His second goal was a left-footer to the low right side.
But Nowak’s third goal, which made it 4-0 with 2:44 left in the second half, was memorable as well. Caraftis played a ball forward on the right wing that the charging Nowak caught up to before curling an extreme-angle shot with not much of a target. It hit the net.
“Some luck,” Nowak said modestly.
“That was a great goal,” Mancuso said, “and, honestly, his shot from about 25, 30 yards out, he absolutely smoked.”
Earlier, Menno made it 3-0 with his eighth goal of the season. Nowak fed the ball to Menno, who turned quickly and fired home.
SWR outshot Jericho (6-6-1) by 24-5 and claimed seven of the game’s eight corner kicks.
Jericho is coached by Dani Braga, a Shoreham resident who lives close enough to the SWR field that he could have walked there.
SWR’s starting back four of Ben Panasci, Tanner Cummings, Thomas Daggett and Luke Gorman helped the team post its sixth shutout of the season. Goalkeepers Kyle Rose and Killian O’Reilly split the shutout.
“I think it just proves that we can compete with teams like Jericho and other high-level teams in Suffolk and Nassau,” said Menno.
SWR had a slow start to the season, including a 6-1 loss at Elwood/John Glenn.
“It was a little bit of a rough start, but I think we definitely took it as lessons to learn and I think we don’t want to lose from here on out,” Nowak said. “We learned our lessons and we’re ready to win.”
SWR won a league championship last year before being eliminated by Glenn in a county quarterfinal.
“I think they have all the potential in the world,” Mancuso said. “I think their potential is sky-high. As long as they’re working to realize it, I can’t see anybody getting in their way.”
