21-0-1. This was the marvelous record of the Amityville Boys Varsity Soccer team this season which concluded with the highest of awards in the NYSPHSAA soccer program which was a NY State Boys Soccer Class A Championship. The boys had various difficult matches on their way to Middletown, NY. These matches include a 2-0 win over Half Hollow Hill West, 3-1 win in the Suffolk County final over Hauppauge and an extraordinary 5-0 win in the Long Island Championship game over Mepham. This Sunday match win would give them a entrance into the Boys Soccer tournament over the weekend of November 10-11 in Middletown, NY to compete for the state title.

The boys started their journey with an early morning Saturday matchup vs Brighton (Rochester area) at Mount Saint Mary’s College. The Warriors finally broke the Brighton defense 18 minutes into the game when Henry Martinez buried a shot from long range. The Warriors then kept attacking for the rest of the first half, and had to play more defensively during the second half, until senior Rolman Guardado with 10 minutes left, extended the Warriors’ lead to 2-0. The Warriors won their match and had their golden ticket to a NY State Boys Soccer Championship matchup vs Somers.

Before the game the boys knew what an important match this would be. The finale of the Revenge Tour! This would be an exciting match up as this would be a rematch of the 2016 state semi-final match. Over the past two years (2016-2017), the Warriors have suffered only 3 losses. These losses were to Hills West, Hauppauge, and Somers. The Warriors had a second chance to redeem themselves against these three teams. They already got the job done against Hills West and Hauppauge, but the final match would be the team that destroyed their hearts back in 2016.

The stars aligned at the right time. On a cold Sunday morning at approximately 8:30 the referee blew his whistle to initiate the game. Henry Martinez opened up the match with a goal in the first 20 minutes. The Warriors found themselves up 1-0 at half time. The second half started with Martinez putting another shot home at the 52nd minute. With seven minutes left, Somers headed one into the net from a corner but then couldn’t find another due to the lock down defense of the warriors. After 80 minutes of pure class, the Amityville Boys Varsity Soccer team had won its 2nd State Title in program history. “The 2018 team was most special to me due to the reason that I played beside all the guys I basically grew up with. Many of the guys I have known since elementary school,” Rolman Guardado stated. This was a major factor to the difference of this team from others.

Although there were many more reasons the team stood out from others there is one major reason that inspired the team. Over the summer Coach Mike Abbondondolo and Papa Mike (father of Coach Mike) lost their sister/daughter. “We decided we were going to do it for Gina this year,” forward Kymani Hines said. “Coach Mike and ‘Papa Mike’ always stood with us and are always there for us when we need them. Why not give them the same gift? We did it for Gina.” The Warriors ended the Revenge Tour finale with a memorable match for the ages.

The Warriors will be looking towards even bigger things in the future and Hines had this to say about the future of the team: “I think there’s going to be a successful future for the upcoming  Amityville team because we have a lot of talent and an amazing coaching staff to create an environment for players to grow.” The future of Amityville soccer looks to be in good hands, but for the moment, the boys are still daydreaming about this incredible accomplishment.