This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/18/2021 11:00 PMThe Old Saybrook boys’ soccer team had made its way back to the Class S state championship game after pulling off a crazy comeback versus Somers in the semifinal round last week. The Rams trailed Somers by two goals in the final minutes of regulation, but stormed back to tie the game and send it to overtime, where Old Saybrook netted two more scores to come away with a 5-3 OT victory.
Junior captain Cameron DeAngelo scored three goals for the Rams in the contest, including the game-tying score on a penalty kick with just two seconds left in regulation. With the win, the Old Saybrook improved its overall record to 18-0-3 and advanced to face Canton in the Class S final, where the Rams will be vying to win their third-straight state championship.
No. 2 seed Old Saybrook squared off with 6th-seeded Somers in the semifinals of the Class S State Tournament at Veterans Stadium in New Britain on Nov. 18. The two sides played scoreless soccer through the first half of play before Somers netted back-to-back goals to take a 2-0 lead early in the second stanza. A few minutes later, DeAngelo put the Rams on the board when he scored a goal to make it 2-1.
Somers came back with a goal to grab a 3-1 advantage with 14:05 remaining in the game. The Spartans held on to their two-goal lead until there was 5:44 to play, when sophomore Kevin DeCapua scored a goal for Old Saybrook to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Somers was still up by a goal as the final seconds of the contest were ticking off the scoreboard. Undaunted, the Rams kept pressing in an effort to get the equalizer. With the rains coming down in the waning moments, DeAngelo made a run at the Somers goal and was tripped up in the box, awarding Old Saybrook a penalty kick with only two seconds remaining. DeAngelo stepped up to the line and buried PK to tie game at 3-3 and send it into overtime.
DeAngelo kept the Rams’ momentum going by scoring his third goal of the game to put the Rams up 4-3 up just 2:04 into the first OT period. Early in the second overtime, senior captain Nick Rothman scored an insurance goal for Old Saybrook to give the Rams a two-score lead.
Rothman’s goal was the final one of the night as Old Saybrook walked off the field with an exhilarating 5-3 win over Somers in the Class S semifinals. Senior goalie Ryan Slisz made seven saves in net for Head Coach Steve Waters’s squad.
Old Saybrook played No. 8 seed Canton in the Class S State Tournament final at Dillon Stadium in Hartford on Nov. 21 (after press time). This will mark the Rams 10th appearance in a state championship game. Old Saybrook won the Class S title the last time that states were held in 2019 after having also claimed the crown in 2018. The Rams have won six state championships in program history.
Coach Waters won nine state titles as the head coach of the Farmington boys’ soccer squad before helping Old Saybrook take the Class S title as an assistant coach with the Rams in 2019. Waters’s 583 career victories as a head coach are the most out of anyone in the history of Connecticut high school boys’ soccer.
Old Saybrook went 14-0-2 during the regular season and then earned a share of the Shoreline Conference title by playing Morgan to a 1-1 in the league final this fall. In states, the Rams had a first-round bye and then notched a 1-0 win over Portland in the second round, followed by a 4-3 overtime win versus Valley Regional in the quarterfinals prior to its dramatic OT victory against Somers in the semis.
The Old Saybrook boys’ soccer team’s roster features senior captains Nicholas Scalzo and Nick Rothman; senior Ryan Slisz; junior captains Bradley Kulmann and Cameron DeAngelo; juniors Michael Kapij, Ryan Stratton, Peter Wisialowski, Noah Skiles, Jack Forrestt, Juan Quevedo, and Aidan Gilson; sophomores Drew Kulmann, Kevin DeCapua, Brayden Cody, Jacob DeAngelo, and Lucas Webb; and freshmen Brendan Cassella, Liam Roberts, Felipe Dutra, Michael Yuri, and Jack Morin.