Julio Martinez scored with less than five minutes remaining in the county boys’ soccer playoff semifinals against visiting Connetquot, breaking a 75 minute stalemate and lifting the Huntington boys’ soccer team to a 1-0 victory at Blue Devil Stadium before a crowd of 350. Huntington will play for its first county boys’ soccer title in 57 years on Thursday night at Longwood.
Martinez scored off an assist by Kevin Velez before Huntington’s defense put the final clamps on the Thunderbirds to send the Blue Devils to the Section XI championship game against West Islip on Thursday at Longwood at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the gate for $10. (Note there is no student discount.)
Huntington and Connetquot proved to be closely matched. Blue Devil goalie Danny Alzate notched his ninth shutout of the fall, stopping five hard shots. The senior has three straight shutouts in the playoffs.
No. 5 Huntington (15-3-1) and No. 2 West Islip (16-2-1) played each other twice during the regular season. Playing at home on September 14, Huntington took a 3-0 lead into halftime before West Islip rallied for a 3-3 tie. On October 7 at West Islip, the Lions topped the Blue Devils, 4-1.
Huntington hasn’t won the county boys’ soccer championship since 1964. The Blue Devils will seek to end that long drought on Thursday night at Longwood.
Coached by John Pagano, Jason Suarez and Jose Alfaro, the Blue Devils are captained by Roberto Contreras, Jose Flores and Danny Alzate.
