Alex Cruz

Nov 4, 2023

Evergreen Charter's inaugural boys soccer season cut short in state regional final Alexis Mendoza #6 of Mount Academy battles for the ball against Andy Alvarado #4 of Evergreen Charter during the Southeast Regional boys soccer final on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Credit: Anna Sergeeva/Anna Sergeeva By Brian Heyman brian.heyman@newsday.com Share The last seconds ran off, and then there were Evergreen Charter players laying all over the turf. The finality of the game and the season had hit them at once. This first year of varsity boys soccer for the Bears concluded in the Class C Southeast Regional final Friday night at Mitchel Athletic Complex. Section IX champ Mount Academy shut them out, 2-0, and earned a place in the state semifinals. “I’m happy we made it this far, but it’s sad we lost,” junior goalkeeper Alex Cruz said. “We didn’t want it to end.” The 15-1 Eagles, from Esopus in Ulster County, made it end. They will next be playing Nov. 11 in Goshen. “It’s awesome,” coach Paul Makaj said. “It’s a fantastic feeling.” But Evergreen Charter had earned Mount Academy’s respect. “For a first-year team, wow,” Makaj said. “Wow is just the perfect word to describe them. They’ve accomplished something unbelievable, and they gave us a tough fight. They did not make it easy whatsoever.” As the lone C team in Nassau, Evergreen Charter automatically advanced to the Long Island title game. The Bears then blanked Suffolk champ Pierson/Bridgehampton, 2-0, on this same field Tuesday and qualified for the regional final. This young team from Hempstead finished at 3-9. Coach Jose Figueroa said the experience of playing two postseason games is “definitely going to help us.” Eagles goalkeeper Michael Hibbs didn’t have to make any saves. But Evergreen Charter also didn’t yield a goal for nearly 52 minutes. Jake Maendel beat Cruz by rocketing a shot into the net from about 20 yards out on the right side. Cruz then kept the Bears in the game with three of his five stops, making a kick save with a little more than 18 minutes remaining, a diving save with a little more than 11 minutes left and then another nifty save with a little under 10 minutes to go. Finally, Mount Academy got another by Cruz on a header by Chris Recinos in front with 9:11 on the clock. “What I saw is we looked so young compared to them,” Figueroa said. “It’s a huge difference. You can tell most of them are seniors. We only have a senior who’s leaving the team. “Right now, we’ve got to get ready for the next year. … We’re going to have the same team, basically. And we’re definitely going to come back stronger.”