The PSAL is known for its rivalries, from Boys & Girls-Lincoln in boys basketball to James Monroe-George Washington in baseball and Tottenville-Curtis in football. Boys soccer has an answer to all of them, maybe even a better one, with Martin Luther King Jr.-Beacon, these two Manhattan school’s separated by just four blocks on the West Side of Manhattan that, along with Francis Lewis, have dominated the sport the last five years.
The rivalry reached a crescendo Thursday afternoon at Randall’s Island, giving us everything it ever has, the underdog – Beacon – finding a way in double overtime when senior Joseph Nikic fought off three defenders and beat King keeper Moulaye Traore far side.
The entire place, filled with spectators – from parents and friends of the two sides to the two ‘B’ teams who played beforehand to even Francis Lewis – went quiet at that moment. It was like time stood still, everybody frozen, unsure if their eyes had just deceived them.
“You heard the silence once that ball went inthe back of the net,” Francis Lewis coach Roger Sarmuksnis said. “The refs looked at each, everybody looked at each other. Did that really happen?”
It was the perfect end to another classic between these two. King was the stronger side, dominating possession in Beacon’s third after a slow start, its depth, size and strength slowly wearing the Blue Demons down.
After the Knights equalized on a beautiful goal from Ibrahim Diaby, the center midfielder with a nifty volley off a Sangary cross 13 minutes after halftime, you got the feeling it was only a matter of time until MLK put them away. Only that knockout punch never came, Beacon somehow holding strong in the back, despite injuries to seniors Reza Malek and Lukas Taga Hall.
For just the second time in 17 league matches, Sangary didn’t find the back of the net. Beacon’s Jesse White, an undersized yet hard-nosed and gritty senior, made sure of that, following the city’s leading goal-scorer’s every move. Whenever King looked like it had its attack set up perfectly, a Blue Demon defender would block a shot or deflect a pass, make a last-second slide-tackle.
They hung around long enough for Nikic’s star turn, the senior coming off his hat trick in a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over No. 5 John Adams in the quarterfinals, creating against three defenders. Manhattan A’s leading scorer a year ago, he had a solid, though unspectacular, regular season, managing nine goals. He’s nearly got half as many the last two playoff matches, none bigger than this one, a goal he may never forget.
The aftermath said even more about this rivalry than the 95 minutes of soccer that preceded it. Three Beacon players went over to the crying MLK defenders, patted them on the back, helping one up. MLK coach Martin Jacobson was gracious in defeat, commending Beacon.
Mahrer, who has credited King with his own program’s development, echoed that sentiment, said MLK’s elite level has forced his club to get better, this year the best example. It seemed right that if anyone was going to snap the Knights’ 14-year run of playing for the city championship, it would be Beacon.
“Our rivalry’s so intense, our two teams know each other so well, that anything is possible,” Mahrer said. “Always playing against a team like King we have to become that much better of a team.”
There will always be the 2005 and 2008 finals, the first won by Beacon in double overtime and the second taken by MLK in penalty kicks. Those matches stand alone, because the underdog won a city title, won a championship it wasn’t supposed to win.
Now Beacon is one win from doing that, too, joining the 2005 Blue Demons in school lore. Another classic between these rivals, another reason it never gets old when Beacon is on one side and Martin Luther King Jr. is on the other.