Old Saybrook blanks East Hampton, 2-0, to win fourth straight Class S boys soccer title
London Sweeney played goalie in soccer in middle school but in high school, he wanted to concentrate on basketball.
This summer, he had a change of heart and decided he would go out for the soccer team.
And that’s how he found himself blinking in disbelief on Sunday afternoon at Trinity Health Stadium, as he was awarded the MVP of the Class S state soccer championship.
Sweeney, an Old Saybrook junior, made 10 saves in windy, slippery, cold conditions as the Rams won their fourth straight Class S state title with a 2-0 victory over Shoreline Conference opponent East Hampton.
“I’m in shock right now,” Sweeney said. “I don’t know how to act. This is my first state championship game and I got MVP. I’m trying to take it all in.
“It was a great year. I’m so happy we got this, especially for our seniors. I’m so happy for those guys.”
Fifth-seeded Old Saybrook (18-1-2) won titles in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Coach Steve Waters won his 11th state title – nine with Farmington and two as the head coach of Old Saybrook (Waters was an assistant coach in 2018).
Old Saybrook had lost its first game of the season to East Hampton, 3-2, on Oct. 28, the last game of the regular season.
But Waters said that his players weren’t out for revenge Sunday.
“We didn’t use it as a revenge game because revenge means somebody owns your emotions,” Waters said. “We didn’t want to play with emotion, we wanted to play with passion.
“We had a philosophy, we’re not coming out to win a state title, we’re coming out to win one more game.”
The turf was icy and the wind was whipping through the stadium during the game, which affected both teams.
“I was so dialed in and ready to win this game,” Sweeney said. “We came here and the turf was slippery and we were worried about it. But we had to adjust and adapt to that.”
Kevin DeCapua scored the Rams’ first goal with 22:18 left in the first half. East Hampton was pressing Cam DeAngelo added the last goal with 1:09 left in the game.
With time running out in the game, third-seeded East Hampton (14-2-1) had a free kick. Sweeney made the save and the Old Saybrook players began to celebrate.
“We’ve been trying to get him since freshman year,” senior center back Jack Forrestt said. “He’s a big basketball player. We heard he was coming back, we didn’t know if it was true. But when he got in net, we knew we were going to have a great keeper.”
Lori Riley can be reached at lriley@courant.com.
