HALF HOLLOW HILLS WEST 1, MASSAPEQUA 0

Colts win LI ‘AA’ crown� Gelman scores lonegoal, Aurrichio makesbig save to clinch titleBY JEFF GOLDjeff.gold@newsday.com

This was a team that talkedbig from the start. Sure, HalfHollow Hills West wanted todefend its league IV title, butthe expectations always weremuch greater. It had talent anda perfect mix of experience andyouthful exuberance.

“I absolutely thought this wasa special group from the firstday, one that could do majorthings,” Hills West coach DougGannon said. “We had all the in-gredients that make a successfulteam. The question was what wewould do with them.”

Here’s what they did withthem: Despite being one of thesmallest schools in Class AA,Hills West won the program’sfirst Long Island boys soccerchampionship since 1979 afterit beat Massapequa, 1-0, yester-day at Hofstra in a high-qualitygame deserving of the champi-onship stakes.

The win sends Hills West(20-1-1) to Oneonta, where itwill compete in the state finalfour, which begins Saturday atthe U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame.

For Hills West, a team with14 seniors, it was one of itsyoungest players, sophomoreNolan Gelman, who providedthe goal. Gelman found a looseball in the box that Massapequacouldn’t clear after a cornerkick, and he knocked it homewith 17:55 left to give the Coltsa 1-0 lead.

The goal came less than 24hours after Gelman made afourth-quarter, 31-yard fieldgoal to provide the final scorein Hills West’s 17-8 win overRocky Point in the Suffolk Divi-sion III football semifinals.

“Both moments were great,but the goal today was more ex-hilarating,” Gelman said. “I’mon such a high right now.”

The game had some greatmoments. Both teams wereaggressive to the ball on the

ground and in the air throughwindy conditions.

Massapequa’s Jim Altadon-na, one of the most potent goalscorers on Long Island, wasdangerous all game, and cameparticularly close to scoringtwo different times when thegame was scoreless.

With 28:42 left, he took a lowlining shot that was destinedfor the near post, but Hills

West goalkeeper Alex Aurri-chio made a great save.

Then five minutes later,Altadonna beat Aurrichio to acrossing pass and his volleywas on net, but Hills West’sGavin Adee backed up the keep-er and cleared the potential go-ahead goal.

“He’s always there for us,”Aurrichio said of Adee.

Just five minutes later, Gel-

man scored the game’s onlygoal.

From there, Hills Westpacked its defense, sloweddown the pace, and Aurrichiomade every save in the finalstretch look easy.

Massapequa put on somepressure, but couldn’t breakthrough, ultimately losing inthe Long Island championshipby one goal for the second

straight year. Last year, theChiefs loss to Brentwood on agoal in the final minute.

“This is really tough, consid-ering how close we’ve been fortwo years,” Massapequa coachKeith Stanley said. “But I goback and try and rememberhow many great things we’vedone in the two years to makeus feel a little better. This was areally great game.”

BY JEFF GOLDjeff.gold@newsday.com

Does any billionaire with a pri-vate jet want to help out NolanGelman?

There’s a scheduling conflictfor the Hills West sophomore. Hecould use some transportation as-sistance. Next Saturday, both ofGelman’s teams are playing.

He is a midfielder for the HillsWest soccer team, which will beplaying in Oneonta in a state semi-final at a time to be determined.

He’s also the kicker for the foot-ball team, which is playing for theDivision III county title on thesame day against Islip at noon atStony Brook University.

Yesterday, Gelman scored thewinning goal in Hills West’s 1-0boys soccer championship winover Massapequa. On Saturday,he kicked a critical 31-yard fieldgoal in the fourth quarter to putHills West up 17-8, which held upas the final score against RockyPoint. So what is he going to do?

“There is no issue,” Hills

West soccer coach Doug Gan-non said. “The kid practiceswith us six days a week. He’scoming upstate, believe me.”

Relax, Coach. Gelman conced-ed as much, saying he will bewith his soccer teammates in thestate final four. Kicking for thefootball team is something newto him, and it is his second sport.

“Soccer has always been mymain thing,” Gelman said. “Iheard the football team needed akicker and I volunteered. I go tofootball practice for a few min-

utes after soccer practice. I justtake a few kicks.”

Gelman’s football teammatesknew there could be an issue.After Hills West defeated RockyPoint on Saturday, a few of histeammates joked with him aboutwhat they wanted him to do thenext day in the Long Island soc-cer championship.

“A few asked me to throw thegame,” Gelman joked.

In other words, kick it away.But it didn’t quite work out likethat.

NEWSDAY.COM/NZONE

Just for kicks: How will Gelman solve schedule?

PHOTOS BY BOB MITCHELL

At left, Half Hollow HillsWest’s John Conneely,behind ball, helps teammateswall off Massapequa. Above,Hills West’s AlexanderAurrichio holds up the trophyfor winning the boys ClassAA L.I. final/SoutheastRegional final after 1-0 win.

� Watch a slideshow of the bestphotos from thisfall’s soccerplayoffs.

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