Indians Turned in Strong Season on Soccer Field

MAHOPAC—It was a solid fall season, with an unfortunate early ending in the playoffs, for the Mahopac High boys soccer team.

Arthur Strzepka SKIP The Indians had one of their better teams in recent years, finished second in League 1-B, and made the sectionals as the No. 8 seed, before falling to No. 9 Suffern in the first round. Mahopac closed out the season at 10-5-2.

“I think we had a successful season,” Indians coach Chris Emery said. “This was one of the best seasons we’ve had in some time. I think we did a nice job developing the young guys… they adjusted to the varsity level well, and helped us out. We had a disappointing end, I feel like we out-played Suffern, but we couldn’t get the ball in the net. But overall it was a good season.”

Senior sweeper and team captain Dave Sparozic, a three-year starter, earned All-Section and All-League honors. Junior forward Arthur Strzepka led the team in goals (14), and was named All-Section Honorable Mention and All-League. Luke Fariselli, a senior defender, and Adam Basuljevic, a junior goalkeeper, were also named to the All-League 1-B team.

Dave Sparozic SKIP “Sparozic is a very smart player, always gets a great angle and plays with heart,” Emery said. “He’s had a great career for us, and will be sorely missed. Arthur, in his first season with the team, was the top scorer in the league, he can create and finish his own shot, and we’ll be looking for him to do big things next year. Luke will also be missed, and Adam did a great job, and was one of the best goalies in the league.”

Emery also cited strong contributions from Frank Fonseca, Ryan Lakestream, Rob Schiera, Anthony Lopez and Greg Shannon.

Mahopac loses seven seniors, including six starters, to graduation.

“Our JV had a real nice season (14- 2),” Emery said. “And modified was also good. We’ll pull some guys up, but we lose a lot in the back – with a lot of experience. We’ll have to figure it out… but offensively, we’ll have experience. It should be a good group.”

Emery also thanked assistant Jim Gencarelli. “He was a real positive influence on the team as far as conditioning,” Emery said. “He did a great job.”