East Hampton Clinches Top Seeds in Boys' Soccer

Senior Night was a good night for soccer in East Hampton.

The boys clinched first place in the Shoreline Conference and the top seed in the Class S tournament with a 6-2 victory over Hale-Ray behind four goals by Kenny Steer, and the girls clinched a spot in the Class S tourney with a 1-0 win, also against the Little Noises.

The Bellringers jumped out quick in the boys’ match with goals by Adam Guy and Steer only 1:11 and 5:13 into the first half.

Hale-Ray got one back before Steer scored two more times in the half to make it 4-1. With the score 4-2, Steer scored his fourth goal, this one off a nice assist from Matt Vasquenza, before halftime for a 5-2 lead.

“Kenny, since the second half of the year, he’s just been on fire,” coach Bob Boscarino said. “He’s a confident player. The kids have been playing great balls and he’s finishing. Every opportunity he has, he finishes.”

Hale-Ray (2-11-1) mounted decent pressure but had no answer for East Hampton’s speed, consistently getting beat on deep balls.

“We’re very fast and they were trying to pull us offsides and I think that’s one of the things you’re going to be exposed to,” Boscarino said.

Vasquenza scored the final goal for East Hampton (15-1).

Austin Tierney made his third start of the season in goal for the Bellringers and played well. Tierney will continue to start during the postseason, replacing goalkeeper Austin Wosleger for undisclosed reasons.

“Austin Tierney is going to be our goalie for now and we’ll see how it turns out,” Boscarino said. “I thought Tierney did a great job. I thought he came into a big game and I thought he did excellent. He’s very confident, he’s a 10th grader, he’s very technical. I feel very fortunate that we have another very good goalie to fill right in.”

Tierney is ready for the opportunity.

“I was glad I finally got my chance to get in,” he said. “I didn’t think it would be this early. I thought it would be next year. I’m feeling pretty confident. My one weak point is coming out in the air, but I’m working on that and getting better.”

With the regular season over for East Hampton, the Bellringers will next play on Wednesday in a Shoreline Conference tournament semifinal at home against an opponent to be determined. Hale-Ray has two regular season games remaining.

Pairings for the state tournament will be announced next Friday.

“They deserve everything they get,” Boscarino said. “They’re winners, that’s all I can say.”

In the girl’s match, Becca Gustine scored directly off her corner kick for the only goal. East Hampton (5-6-4) came into the game needing to win one of its final two games to qualify for the state tournament. The Bellringers conclude the regular season on Monday at home against Cromwell. Hale-Ray falls to 3-9-2.