Hills West Colts Are Long Island Champs
/
The Half Hollow Hills West Colts celebrate their Long Island championship win Sunday night at Mitchell Field in Uniondale. Photo Courtesy of Half Hollow Hills School District
By Andrew Wroblewski
awroblewski@longislandergroup.com
Two of the best performances of Hills West goalkeeper Ben Nacht’s varsity career have come within in a three-day span. The latter performance, a 10-save effort that resulted in the junior’s fourth clean-sheet of the playoffs, helped the Colts become Long Island champions.
“He was absolutely fantastic in net,” Coach Doug Gannon said of Nacht’s effort in the 1-0 win over Uniondale on Sunday.
Gannon continued, “He probably had the best game of his career after having the other best game of his career on Thursday” in the Colts’ 2-0 win over Smithtown West in the Suffolk County Class AA final.
Nacht and Hills West’s defense have allowed four goals this postseason; each of them coming in the Colts’ first-round win over rival, Half Hollow Hills High School East.
The lockdown defense has complimented a Hills West offense that has produced timely goals, often coming in the opening minutes of games.
Against Uniondale, it was Andrew Bunsis who opened the scoring in the 13th minute with a header off a Frankie Viti cross.
The goal was a perfect example of the way Hills West plays offense, Gannon said: “We want to play the ball wide, send crosses to the back post, and have guys crashing in. Bunsis was right there on the cross, unmarked as usual.”
The goal was the second of the season for Bunsis, a junior. He’s the 15th Colt to record a goal this season.
Back on the other end of the field, Hills West’s defense shut down Uniondale’s increasingly desperate attacks through the remaining 67 minutes of play at Mitchell Field.
“The defense really has settled in and done its role — they’re very aggressive,” Gannon said. “It was nice to see them keep Uniondale off the board.”
Not only has the Colts defense come together down the stretch, the team as a whole has.
“These guys have really formed a family — I’m coaching 34 brothers, or 34 sons. It’s really just awesome to fruition,” Gannon said.
The Colts aren’t done yet, though. Their quest for a first-ever state championship continues Saturday at 11:15 a.m. at upstate Middletown High School where they’ll meet 16-time state champion Shenendehowa.
“They play very technical, but we pretty much know exactly what they want to do, so we’re going to try to exploit that,” Gannon said of the Colts’ opponent in the semifinals.
If Hills West defeats Shenendehowa, it will advance to the state final slated for Sunday at 12:30 p.m. against the winner of Ithaca/McQuaid Jesuit. To keep up with the bracket, log on to NYSPHSAA.org.
