Less than two miles separate Freeport High School from Baldwin High School. That tight margin showed itself on the soccer pitch Monday afternoon.
Freeport and Baldwin battled to a 1-1 draw at Caroline G. Atkinson Middle School in Freeport in Nassau AAA boys soccer play. While a league game, the matchup is also home of the Sunrise Cup Championship, a tradition Baldwin coach Christopher Soupios and Freeport coach Craig Klasson started a year ago.
“It would just be something great to keep as tradition goes to get the guys excited for it,” Klasson said.
While the Cup was in a mini-tournament format a year ago, the two decided to leave the honor to the league match between the two schools barely separated by Sunrise Highway.
“It’s always been a heated rivalry,” Freeport senior Emerson Molina Hernandez said. “It’s a unique experience.”
The trophy rested on the sideline at midfield as the Bruins and Red Devils kicked off, and it wasn’t long before a team found the scoresheet.
Baldwin senior Abraham Orelena drew in Freeport goalie Kleybersson Corado and slipped a pass toward the far post using the outside of his right foot as senior Devonte Young slid to finish the opportunity less than five minutes into the game.
Baldwin (3-3-4) looked the stronger side early on, especially with senior midfielders Erick Ramos and Emilzon Lovos hustling from end-to-end. But Freeport (4-4-2) grew into the game, aided by Molina Hernandez dropping deeper from his striker role into the midfield.
“We came out aggressive, we wanted the win,” Young said. “When things didn’t go our way, we started to lose focus and they got the better of us.”
Molina Hernandez and Freeport took greater control in the second half. Senior Jose Molina played a long ball to Molina Hernandez, who cut in toward goal and ripped a 20-yard shot with enough power to justify sympathy for the ball itself.
“We just needed to wake up,” Molina Hernandez said. “We started off really slow, asleep … how we played the second half, we have to play the full game.”
Both teams had several chances late to score a winner. Freeport sophomore Brandon Mendez hit a shot toward the left corner of the net with six minutes left, only to be saved by Baldwin goalie Antonio Lopez-Aguilar.
Baldwin’s Ramos, who narrowly missed a couple chances in the final minutes in what was otherwise a stellar game, curled a great shot from the left side of the field that was met by an even better save courtesy of Corado.
“[Corado] stepped up big in the second half,” Klasson said. “He’s a really good shot-stopper, and you can’t ever count him out.”
So, who keeps the trophy in the case of a tie? Soupios said the award will stay with Freeport as last year’s victor, but both teams will be more focused on making the playoffs as October grows near.
“We just need to start going one game at a time and try to win each game,” Molina Hernandez said, “and not get ahead of ourselves so we can find a way into those playoff spots.”
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
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