East Hampton vs Harborfields

HIGHLIGHTS

Harborfields 1, East Hampton 0: Hey, Jude (Callan)! You scored a goal, and now the Harborfields boys soccer team has won a Suffolk title. The junior center midfielder scored with 17:45 remaining in the game as No. 3 Harborfields earned a 1-0 victory against No. 4 East Hampton in the Suffolk Class A boys final at Diamond at the Pines on Saturday. Harborfiehds (10-2-1) closed the season on a 10-game win streak. The game was a defensive battle with only a few chances for both sides. However, Callan felt fortunate on his scoring opportunity. "Luckily, I was just in the right place at the right time -- inside the six [yard box]," Callan said. "I got a touch with my right [foot] and shot it with my right." Both teams had huge wins in the semifinals to advance. Harborfields beat No. 2 Amityville, 4-2, and East Hampton topped No. 1 seed Half Hollow Hills West, 5-1. "We definitely flipped the script that a lot of people expected," Callan said. "We came here with a lot of confidence." Interestingly, the Tornadoes -- who won their first title since 2002 (when it was the Suffolk Class B co-champs with Shoreham-Wading River) -- started the season 0-2-1. "It was all about resiliency and being a family," Harborfields coach DJ Greening said. "We had a bunch of boys who have played together for a long time. They trusted the process even after our tough start." East Hampton (11-4-1) -- which won Suffolk A crowns in 2011, 2012 & 2014 -- had stretches of aggressive play on the offensive end but couldn't beat goalkeeper Ryan Steel (6 saves). "I don't think we were really prepared for the season to begin," Steel said. "But even after our rough start, something just clicked." Harborfields never felt it received the credit it deserved. "I think people slept on us. "No one talked about us," Steel said. "This was a statement game for us, and we finally got it." Thanks to Callan's goal. "He has great soccer IQ," said Greening of Callan. "We talked to him a lot about where to be on set pieces. We work on it every day at practice. He's been listening to us and following what we've been saying." The same can be said of the entire Harborfields team. "The fact that we worked through the bumps and stepped up is a credit to them," Greening said. "After losing our first two league games they could have packed it in, but they didn't."