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The junior center midfielder said he had tried to score on scissors kicks on two prior occasions this season. \u201cI hit the crossbar and the goalie saved the other one,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew the third one just had to go in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hurricanes\u2019 tying goal was a work of art, too. Kade Murphree played a ball along the left sideline for Ethan Vogt, who drove a centering pass that Chance Brindle put away with an open look at goal. There was not much goalkeeper Kyle Rose could do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was clearly not the same Westhampton Beach team that SWR had routed, 7-0, on Sept. 15. Mancuso called Westhampton Beach \u201chonestly, probably one of the scariest lower seeds in the playoffs.\u201d He said, \u201cThat goal that they scored is one of the more impressive goals I\u2019ve seen in high school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SWR has won nine straight games, six of those shutouts. Over that span, the Wildcats have outcored teams, 39-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SWR was unfortunate not to have scored more goals Monday. Early on, Menno looped a ball forward for the onrushing Nicholas Nowak, who slammed a hard shot off the left goalpost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Westhampton Beach goalkeeper Alex Ajiataz played a superb match, despite taking a kick to his midsection while diving to punch away a ball that deflected off a teammate and was headed toward the low right corner of the goal in the first half. \u201cTheir keeper had one of the better games I\u2019ve seen on a high school field,\u201d said Mancuso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SWR had three golden scoring opportunities in the final 12:30 of the second half: Nowak nudged a ball just feet wide of the right post; Caraftis cranked a shot off a corner kick, only to be denied by a first-class reflex save by Ajiataz; and Daggett met a free kick 43 yards away from goal by Menno with a blast over the crossbar with a little over a minute left in regulation time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On to overtime, when anything can happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne goal puts your whole season away and we just couldn\u2019t have that happen to us,\u201d said Daggett, one of many SWR players who bleached their hair blond in a show of unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SWR had the better of Westhampton Beach (5-10-1) in possession. That was reflected by SWR\u2019s 14-3 superiority in shots and 13-0 advantage in corner kicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SWR advances to a quarterfinal Thursday at No. 4 Elwood\/John (13-2-1). Glenn was a 6-1 winner over SWR on Sept. 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The playoffs are a different animal than the regular season. With the pressure and intensity, everything is magnified \u2014 including a coach\u2019s stress level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Said a relieved Mancuso, \u201cIt was fun to watch and I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll feel that way after my heart rate goes down.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Smart soccer wins. Thomas Daggett took that understanding to heart and used his head \u2014 literally \u2014 as Shoreham-Wading River opened its sixth straight postseason in dramatic fashion Monday night. A well-executed Daggett header lifted fifth-seeded SWR to a 2-1 sudden-victory overtime triumph over No. 12 Westhampton Beach in a Suffolk County Class A Tournament…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":113350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1743,37],"tags":[732,15464,13186,10900,15502],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-113349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-story","category-sports","tag-boys-soccer","tag-owen-caraftis","tag-premium","tag-shoreham-wading-river","tag-thomas-daggett"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n