If the Class B Long Island championship was meant to be competitive, Nassau County representative Wheatley failed that part of the pact.
Mattituck (16-2) controlled the game from the beginning, asserting their clear dominance in a 4-1 victory at Adelphi University Tuesday morning.
Despite surrendering one goal on a penalty shot because of a handball in the penalty box, Mattituck didn’t have to sweat too much. Many of their subs were already in the game early on in the second half.
“It just came down to us being a little bit better than them today,” head coach Mat Litchhult said. “After allowing them to tie the game because of the penalty kick, we pushed Kevin Williams up to the midfield and it was downhill from there for them.”
This game had Kaan Ilgin’s fingerprints all over it. Or perhaps footprints may be the correct term.
The senior striker made opponents look devastated as they ran around in circles trying to figure out his next move. Ilgin had two goals and two assists, contributing to each of Mattituck’s goals.
Mattituck scored first on a corner kick from Ilgin that was headed in by co-captain Paul Hayes. When Wheatley tied it up, the Tuckers looked a bit deflated but only momentarily as Ilgin put Mattituck back in the lead on a breakaway opportunity. He was marked in the middle of the field all game long by the Wheatley defenders so he positioned himself on the sideline and waited for a ball to come his way.
“At first I was frustrated,” Ilgin said. “One guy was man-marking me the whole game. I thought about my travel soccer team and when they man-mark me there, my coach puts me on the sideline and makes me wait there until I get the ball and I decided to do that today and it worked.”
“It brings that man to the sideline and once I get the ball it’s one on one,” he continued. “And nobody will beat me one on one.”
Williams then kicked a perfectly timed through ball a few minutes later in-between three Wheatley defenders to Ilgin who held off his competitors all the way to the goal, finishing with a flick of the foot into the corner of the goal. But regardless, whether he’s double teamed or triple teamed, Ilgin said, “it won’t stop me.”
And once it’s one on one with the goalkeeper, it becomes more mental than a physical game.
“I wait for the goalie to make his first step,” Ilgin said. “Once he does that I just kick it in the opposite direction.”
With 10 seconds left on the clock, Ilgin once again was on a breakaway and as the the final seconds ticked off, he fired a shot that was just tipped away by the goalkeeper. Ilgin’s head dropped to the turf and he laid there for a second as he caught his breath.
“I wanted that hat trick so bad,” Ilgin said. “I told everyone I was going to get a hat trick for the Long Island championship.”
Ilgin set up the fourth Mattituck goal on a nifty touch pass to Walter Jacob who buried it in the back of the net. That was the end of Ilgin’s night. Litchhult took him off to prevent injury or another yellow card. He’s already got two in the playoffs, including one on Tuesday, and two more will force him to sit out a game.
“It’s vital to a team to have a guy like Kaan on it,” Litchhult said. “Goal scoring is everything to a team. Possession is one thing and toughness is another but we’ve been in games where we’ve dominated but haven’t scored. And if you don’t get the ball in the goal you end up on the short end of the stick.”
Mattituck now advances to the Class B regional final at Diamond in the Pines on Saturday. They’ll play the winner of Rye Neck and Highland at 4 p.m.
SoutholdLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl
