Sebastian Lens, Owen Blair send West Babylon boys soccer to its first semifinal since 1999
West Babylon advances to the semifinals with a 2-0 win over East Islip in a Suffolk Class AA boys soccer quarterfinal in West Babylon on Monday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
It had been a while since West Babylon was seen playing a postseason game in boys soccer — 2019.
It had been a much longer while since West Babylon actually won a postseason game and qualified for a Suffolk semifinal — 1999.
But the droughts came to an end Monday at West Babylon Junior High.
Sebastian Lens and Owen Blair scored first-half goals and Blair and the defense excelled again, and the fourth-seeded Eagles blanked No. 5 East Islip, 2-0, in their Suffolk Class AA quarterfinal.
And so, yes, for the first time in 27 years, this program can cherish a playoff victory and a trip to the semifinals.
“It means a lot,” Blair said. “Coming in, ninth-grade year, all I wanted to do was just win a playoff game. Just try to make the biggest impact I possibly could for the team. Given the captain’s armband this season and making it this far is just an amazing journey, especially my senior year.”
The 11-4-2 Eagles will next play at No. 1 Huntington at 6 p.m. Thursday.
“Huntington’s scary,” coach Frank Ging said.
But his team doesn’t want to settle for just making it this far. West Babylon has never won a county title in boys soccer.
“I think with resilience and grit, I think our team can do it,” Lens said. “I believe in our group of guys.”
Ging knows the group has already accomplished a lot.
“Obviously, getting the postseason recognition, it’s nice for the memories that they have,” Ging said. “But we don’t need the wins to see where the program’s going. These guys are leaving a legacy behind for the next group.”
Lens got the Eagles going just 6:01 in. The senior striker collected a deflected cross from Sam Asselta and beat JJ Kilfoil, who stopped seven other shots.
“Came out flat,” East Islip coach Greg Johnson said. “High school soccer. Got to play 80 [minutes].”
Then Blair took a free kick in the 25th minute and watched the deflection.
“It hit off the post,” he said.
And it went in.
Blair and fellow center back Jonathan Matthews helped make the lead stand up. So did Jake Whelan, who made five saves, and Brody Woodward, who had three in the final three minutes, preserving the team’s ninth clean sheet.
So East Islip finished at 6-4-3.
“We played a lot of underclassmen,” Johnson said. “It should help us next year.”
