Riverhead Charter crowned as county soccer champs in overtime thriller

Riverhead Charter players streamed onto the field at Eastport-South Manor High School Wednesday after a golden goal gave the Explorers the county soccer championships.

Bradley Bolaj drilled a shot past Southold goalkeeper Grady Brigham two minutes and 32 seconds into sudden-death overtime, lifting Riverhead Charter to a 2-1 victory over Southold in the Suffolk County Class C boys soccer final.

The winning sequence began with Aimar Galvez’s corner kick from the right side. A defender cleared the ball, but it reached Bolaj at the top of the box. He drilled it toward the right corner.

Riverhead Charter — which defeated the Settlers 3-0 on Oct. 15 — had to come from behind and find a way past the junior goalkeeper, whose 11 saves included a first-half penalty kick stop.

Third-seeded Southold (7-9-1) arrived with renewed confidence after upsetting No. 2 Port Jefferson on Saturday, snapping a four-game losing streak against the Royals.

The Settlers made their intentions clear early. Junior forward Jefferson Moreno scored his fifth goal of the season, converting a scramble in the penalty area to put Southold ahead at 8:50.

“I think we definitely surprised them,” Southold head coach Chris Ruggi said. “They underestimated us a bit, just based on our previous matchup, our overall record and some of our results. I think it’s natural to overlook us a little bit. But over the last couple weeks, we’ve made some strides. We knew coming in that we were going to be a handful for them.”

The Explorers had a chance to draw even after Southold senior co-captain CJ Bailey committed a foul in the box at 17:49. Brigham dove to his right to deny Josualdo Zavala-Avelar’s penalty kick.

“I saw him set the ball up,” he said. “I like to watch their hips before they take the kick. I saw he was turning this way. I was like, I’m just going to commit full right. And just whatever happens, happens. Hey, I got to it.”

But Riverhead Charter managed to tie the game in the 25th minute on a Daniel Carrera goal from a tough angle on the left flank.

Neither team could break the deadlock in the second half. Brigham made both routine and spectacular saves, including another vital stop near the end of regulation but it wasn’t enough.

“This was our peak,” Ruggi said. “The whole season was a roller coaster up and down. The last week was a nice, steady climb to where we reached our peak. We’re playing at our best, and it wasn’t enough today, unfortunately.”

Riverhead Charter (10-7) will face the Section I champion in the regional final at Harborfields High School on Nov. 7.