Locust Valley falls to Jamesville-DeWitt in state Class A boys soccer semifinals
Locust Valley fans cheer as their team is introduced before a state Class A boys soccer semifinal on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Middletown. Credit: Adrian Kraus
MIDDLETOWN — The 2026 Locust Valley boys soccer team went further than any previous Falcons team, setting a standard that future teams will dream about reaching.
That included the program’s first Long Island and Southeast Regional titles. It won’t include a state title, though.
Jamesville-DeWitt’s Carsyn Geisler Price and Bekzod Abdusattorov scored within 53 seconds of each other in the 68th and 69th minutes to send the Red Rams to the state Class A final with a 3-2 win over Locust Valley on Friday night at Middletown High School.
“I want people to remember them not for this loss but for what they brought to Locust Valley this year,” coach Joe Lee said. “They brought the whole community together. They got everybody believing that we’re with the best of them.”
Lee, who told the team before the season that he was leaving the program to spend more time with family, spent the last 23 years as the Falcons’ coach.
“I’m still a little bit in shock with the season ending,” Lee said. “It’s going to hit me hard at some point, but first and foremost, I want to take care of these boys.”
Jamesville-DeWitt (15-5-1) struck first, with Geisler Price poking in a header from Sam Jacobs in the 10th minute.
“Some of their attackers were pretty fast,” defender Owen Canizales said. “They definitely studied us, 100%.”
Locust Valley (16-3) responded well in a game that never looked one-sided after the opening goal.
Lucas Mejia engineered the equalizer in the 18th minute, dancing past a defender before goalkeeper Griffin Bourcy saved his shot. Mejia collected the rebound and slipped a pass to Marco McMillan, who tapped it in to tie the score.
Mejia, a team captain, is one of 15 seniors for the Falcons. “[With how] close we are, I feel like that gave us the edge that we needed to beat teams we were underdogs against, like most of the season,” he said.
Canizales gave Locust Valley a 2-1 lead in the 64th minute with a brilliant lofted ball toward the back post. Geisler Price tied it minutes later off a free kick to the near post.
Abdusattorov then beat several defenders, dribbled left of the goal and slipped a shot into the bottom-right corner.
Mejia and Canizales thanked supporters, and Canizales lifted the runner-up plaque to the traveling fans.
“To make it here is amazing,” Mejia said. “That’s what makes it so special is that, even through all this and after this, 20 years from now, we’ll still be best friends. We’ll still have each other and remember what we did this year.”
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
