Commack Beats Smithtown West in Class AA Semifinals, 2-1

A break-away goal off the foot of junior Michael Biondo pushed Commack past Smithtown West Tuesday afternoon in a double overtime thriller. With the 2-1 win, Commack advances to the Class AA finals and will face Brentwood Thursday at Dowling College.

With less than 10 minutes to play in the second overtime, Biondo broke free from the Smithtown West defense and took a pass from Jack Miller that he put in the back of the net.

"I saw the ball switch to the other side and Jack coming down the side and I saw a gap between the defenders so I made the run behind the defender, Jack saw me and played it through and I put it past the goalie," Biondo said.

Biondo said after the game that it was tough physically to play Tuesday afternoon due to stomach pain that forced him to sit the bench more than he was on the field.

"He has a stomach issue so I couldn't play him long stints," Commack coach Patrick Friel said. "He was having cramps today so I couldn't really get him in but finally with cramps and all I said, 'I have to put you in' and he went in and put it in the back of the net."

Goalie Jake Amereno was the backbone of Commack's defense Thursday as he recorded 15 saves in the win.

"He's one of the better goalies in the county, he's an all-county kid, he's a junior and it's his first year on varsity and he's playing like a veteran," Friel said.

Smithtown West coach Tom Lips said after the game that despite the loss he is proud of the effort his team showed Tuesday and what they accomplished this season.

"It's sad but they have nothing to be ashamed of, they took the first seed to the limits and we just didn't come out on top," Lips said. "When they recover they'll look back and see what kind of great season they had."

"I'm very proud of how well we played, our defense played great as usual, our offense played great, everyone played great, we just didn't get it this time," Smithtown West goalie Bryan Hickey said. "We went 17 or 18 games without losing, that's something to be said, we just picked a bad day to start losing. I'm extremely proud of everyone on this team."

Hickey had 24 saves against Commack Thursday afternoon.

"We gave up only gave up two goals a game three times," Lips said. "Our defense is great, Bryan Hickey stepped up and helped the team."

Commack took an early lead with a goal from Jake Amereno off an assist from Max Aronica in the first half.

Matt Hettler tied it up for Smithtown West in the second half, putting the ball in the back of the net off a Derrick Ladeairous corner kick.

Friel spoke of Smithtown West's talent after the game and said his team knew they would have to play their best against the Bulls to get the win.

"We've been training since August for battles and we've been the team with the bulls-eye on our back all year and we've been taking everyone's best punch," he said. "We knew they were a veteran team, very well coached, so we knew we were going to have to battle today for a victory and that's what happened."

Commack will face off against Brentwood at Dowling College Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Class AA final.