The Floral Park boys soccer team celebrates after winning the Class A state title, 2-0 over Schalmont, on Nov. 18. Photo courtesy of Floral Park H.S.
There were a few moments of sadness tinged with all the joy.
As Floral Park High School senior Michael Donovan looked around at the crazy scene he saw on Nov. 23, as a fleet of fire trucks and police vehicles carried him and his friends onto Plainfield Avenue, then Carnation Ave., then Verbena and Tulip Avenues, there was mostly joy and excitement.
Donovan and the rest of the Knights boys soccer team had just done something never before accomplished at the school: Won a state title in the sport.
They did it despite being underdogs in nearly every game, despite not having been there before, and despite all the obstacles any team must overcome on their way to a championship.
Donovan felt great as hundreds of town residents came out hooting and hollering to celebrate the team.
But it also struck him that this was truly the final hurrah for a special group of kids.
“Yeah in the back of my head a few times I was realizing I was never going to play with these guys again,” said Donovan, one of six captains of the team (the others were Ned Devine, Aidan Conlon, Conor McCarthy, Brady Croon and Sam Ammirati). “But it definitely was the best way to go out.”
No better way to go out than winning it all. The Knights’ season was not one of domination (they lost three games and tied one, while winning 15) but of a veteran group that got better as the year went along, and took ownership of the squad among themselves.
Coach Ahkeel Rodney, in his fifth season, said there was never a moment where he thought to himself that his team was going to in the title. But every day, he saw improvement.
“It’s hard to say this was a team capable, because so many things have to go right to win a title,” Rodney said. “But the key to a championship-level team is getting better every day, every time. As long as we’re moving in the right direction, that’s the key. And that’s what was happening. We were playing our best, going into the postseason.”
The road to the title truly began right after last season ended, when Floral Park was beaten in the county semifinals.
In the offseason and then thru the summer, the team worked out and committed to getting better.
“It was heartbreaking, the way last season ended, and we knew the captains and seniors had to take accountability of the team,” Donovan said. “There wasn’t one guy who was the vocal leader, it was always a group effort.
“We may not have been the most talented, but we were always together, culture-wise.”
“The culture is a lot of creating a safe space where kids can make mistakes and grow,” Rodney said. “And a big part of it is, us coaches talking to the kids about being there for each other. “And it got to the point where I never had to say these things, it came from the seniors.”
Once the Class A playoffs began, No. 3 seed Floral Park kept rolling. It reached the Nassau County championship game by beating North Shore, 1-0, then took out Lawrence, 2-0 to win counties.
In the Long Island championship game, the Knights won by the same score over Suffolk’s Elwood-John Glenn.
Suddenly, they were in the state semifinals, just two wins from the title.
Floral Park took out Our Lady of Lourdes, 3-2 in a thrilling semifinal, before easily dispatching Schalmont, 2-0 in the final.
“Everyone else thought we were underdogs, but when we watched film (of the other teams) we felt pretty confident,” Donovan said.
And now, a program that hadn’t even won counties since 2015 was feted with a parade and with cheers from a grateful community, along with medals and certificates from Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman.
“Just seeing so much pride and joy on the faces of everyone, that was the best thing about the parade,” Rodney said. “I said to one of the assistants after, ‘I’m glad now I can finally get some sleep!'”
