Floral Park Memorial’s boys’ varsity soccer team had a very exciting season.  The hard work of August practices paid off greatly as the Knights advanced to the playoffs.

The preseason began with a promising 1-0 victory over district rival H. Frank Carey.  This win sparked an excellent early season performance as the Knights went 3-0-1 in the first four contests, with wins over Valley Stream South, North Shore and Lawrence, and a tie against Glen Cove.  The highlight of the early part of the schedule was the impressive 2-1 victory over highly-ranked Lawrence.  The Knights teamwork contributed greatly to the upset.

A mid-season slump, with shutout losses to Bethpage and Lynbrook, damaged Floral Park’s playoffs hopes.  But the Knights regrouped with a solid 3-0 win over Division, clinching a third consecutive playoff berth.  Floral Park earned the 15 seed and was matched against West Hempstead in an outbracket game.  Behind Daniel Schaeffer’s corner kick goal off an assist from R.J Lascala in the eighth minute of overtime, Floral Park advanced with a 1-0 victory.  Ryan Callaghan secured the shutout with six saves.

Second-seeded Roslyn was waiting for the Knights in the next round.  With an 11-1 record, the Bulldogs were a formidable opponent.  The Knights were seeking revenge after losing during the season to Roslyn.  The Knights were unable to capitalize on a few opportunities early in the game, and fell behind 3-0 at the half.  Although Floral Park was able to score twice in this game, it would not be enough as Roslyn won 5-2.

Overall, the Knights had a successful season.  Losing to the eventual county runner-up provided Floral Park with confidence going into next year.  Michael Corteo finished an impressive four-year run on the varsity while goalie Ryan Callaghan kept the Knights in every game.  Fellow seniors Andrew Prizzi, Robert Owens and Dan Oleksiak (who broke his jaw during the season) all contributed nicely to the season.  The foundation is set for another playoff run next year.