By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Nelson Cupello’s time away from the sideline didn’t last long.
The former longtime Monroe Community College head coach and Section V Boys’ Soccer Hall-of-Fame member joined the coaching staff at Aquinas Institute for the start of the 2021 season as an assistant coach under former player Josh Gleason.
“It’s something I’ve been doing all my life,” Cupello said. “It’s been a nice challenge to work with some good, talented, young kids at Aquinas.”
Gleason, who was a goalkeeper at MCC from 1994-96 under Cupello, saw his former coach last fall when Cupello was officiating a modified soccer game.
“I said to him ‘stop reffing and come coach with me.’ I’d love to have you.”
Cupello didn’t need much convincing.
“It was nice of Josh to ask me to help him out. If it was someone else other than one of my alumni, I probably wouldn’t have done it. He thought enough to ask me because I’m sure that he enjoyed playing for us at MCC.”
As a player, Cupello was an All-American at MCC as well as at SUNY Brockport where he led the Golden Eagles to the 1974 national title. He went on to play five years for the Rochester Lancers in the North American Soccer League (NASL) before returning to MCC as an assistant under Joe Mancarella.
The Eastridge High alum eventually guided SUNY Fredonia to a pair of NCAA semi-finals as head coach from 1985-89. He returned to MCC in 1990 and went on to become the program’s winningest coach with 366 career victories. He retired in 2018.
Cupello was a part of MCC’s first Hall-of-Fame class in 1984 and is also in the NJCAA Hall of Fame.
“He’s still got all the fire in the world,” said Gleason who served as an assistant under Cupello at Monroe. “He demands more out of the players.”
Fittingly, Aquinas opened the 2021 campaign against Pittsford Mendon and head coach Mark Hurley, a teammate of Gleason’s at MCC.
“It was great to see Coach Cupello on the sidelines at AQ coaching with my great friend Josh Gleason,” Hurley said. “They are two of my favorite people on the planet. I played with Josh and Steve Schreib (JV Mendon girls) under Coach Cupello. When the three of us get together we always bring up some stories about Coach as he provides us with some amazing stories that will last a lifetime. He is one of the main reasons the three of us got into coaching soccer many years ago.”
Aquinas will take on another of Cupello’s former players when its faces McQuaid (ranked No. 6 New York State Sportswriters Association/NYSSWA Class AA poll) and Nino Pilato on Saturday.
McQuaid is led by Elliot Aguirre (7 goals/ 4 assists), Andrew O’Hern (4 goals/ 7 assists) and Casey Montesano (5 goals/ 1 assist). Jake Leone anchors a backline in front of keeper Niyen Ruffin that has allowed just two goals this season.
AQ’s Bennett Valentino has five goals. Ali Shabani has a goal and six assists while Iesa Mohammed has a goal and five helpers.
McQuaid (10-1-0) defeated Aquinas 4-0 when the two teams met on September 11th. The Li’l Irish (5-4-0) have won five of seven games since then and have outscored opponents in their past six by a combined total of 19-2.
“We’re defending the minute we lose the ball,” Cupello said of the improvement. “Before one of the forwards would lose the ball, and he’d just let the other team get it and move it up field. That puts an added pressure on everyone else.
“The emphasis is the minute you lose the ball, you start playing defense. Stop them in front of their goal which could turn into an opportunity for you to score a goal instead of waiting until the ball goes all the way back to our goalkeeper and our defenders.”
McQuaid is one of three local sides in the NYSSWA Class AA rankings. No. 4 Penfield (8-0-1) and No. 13 Fairport will square off Thursday night in a Monroe County Division I matchup. Penfield took the first meeting between the two teams, 2-1. Penfield is undefeated in its past 22 games dating back to the beginning of the 2020 campaign. The game, being played for Childhood Cancer Awareness, has special meaning for Fairport head coach Bill Teasdale.
Last home game of the season for Boys Soccer tonight vs. Penfield at 7 pm. Wear your yellow for Childhood Cancer Awareness. This game hits home for Coach Bill Teasdale. #RaiderPride #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth pic.twitter.com/c578cqZGZ7
— Fairport Athletics (@FCSDSports) September 30, 2021
Penfield and Fairport aren’t the only pair of state-ranked foes to face each other this weekend. No. 17 Class C Keshequa (7-2-0) will travel to face No. 13 Class D Mount Morris on Saturday. Reese Powers leads Keshequa with 12 goals and 13 assists. Ben Bacon has 16 goals for Mount Morris. Keshequa will host Avon on Thursday before making the quick turnaround.
Pittsford Sutherland (9-0-1) tops the local teams in Class A coming in at No.4. Sutherland handed McQuaid its only loss of the season. The Knights narrowly escaped with a 2-1 win over Aquinas last Saturday. Churchville-Chili (7-2-0) checks in at No. 20 Class A. Coming off a dramatic win against Brighton in overtime, the Saints will look to avenge one of their two losses when they travel to play Spencerport, Thursday night.
Bath-Haverling (9-0-0) ranks No. 3 Class B. The Rams have outscored opponents 47-2 with AJ Brotz splitting time in goal and splitting time with football. That’s right, Brotz received a waiver from the district to participate in both fall sports. The senior is a wide receiver and defensive back (strong hand-to-eye coordination) with the Rams gridiron gang that is 3-1.
“AJ is a pure athlete and would be great at any sport he decided to play,” Bath-Haverling head soccer coach Matt Hill said. “He is one of the most talented athletes that I’ve seen here in Bath. It’s wonderful that he’s allowed to do football and soccer as he is very passionate about both. He’s also a great kid and a great leader.”
Brotz was the backup keeper on the Bath-Haverling squad that advanced to the 2019 NYS Class B semi-finals.
Keefer Calkins leads the Rams with 21 goals including this gem from a couple weeks ago:
From Thursday: Keefer Calkins connects on an upper 90 snipe with three minutes remaining to level the match. Bath-Haverling goes on to win in overtime. Jedi!!! pic.twitter.com/5ZzaVrMJA6
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 18, 2021
Bath-Haverling hosts Dansville on Thursday.
Penn Yan (8-1-1) is No.13 in the rankings. Brigham Hansen has eight goals and five assists for the Mustangs who host Mynderse on Thursday.
Williamson (7-1-1) is No. 5 Class C while Addison (10-1-0) is No. 14.
Naples (7-0-1) tops the Section V teams in Class D at No. 6. The Big Green haven’t allowed a goal since the first game of the season and have outscored opponents 36-1. Fillmore (8-2-0) is No. 8 and Hinsdale (7-1-0) is No. 16.
Penfield is the only local girls’ team ranked in Class AA in the state. Libbie Tobin’s Patriots (11-1-0) check in at No. 5. Penfield travels to play Fairport on Friday. The Patriots took the first meeting, 4-1.
Spencerport’s girls (9-0-0) are No. 2 Class A in the state and No. 12 in the nation. The team ahead of the Rangers in the state is New Hartford. Spencerport hosts Churchville-Chili on Friday.
Honeoye Falls-Lima (6-3-1) featuring U17 Greek National Team player Maria Karipidis is No. 18 while Brighton (8-2-0) is No. 12. The Bruins’ two losses have been to Penfield and Spenceport.
Palmyra-Macedon (10-0-0) is No. 4 Class B. Led by Maya Ikewood, the Red Raiders have outscored opponents 38-3. Pal-Mac hosts an Aquinas team on Saturday that is looking to rid itself of a recent injury bug. Hornell (9-1-0) is No. 8 Class B. The Red Raiders only setback is to Pal-Mac. Bath-Haverling (7-1-0) is tied at No. 20.
Warsaw (11-0-0) is the top Class C team at No. 2. Chloe Hubbard has 17 goals and 11 assists for the Tigers while teammate Makaylah Higgins has 14 markers and seven helpers. Warsaw has a 62-4 overall scoring margin on opponents. Geneseo (7-2-0) is No. 7. Byron-Bergen (9-2-0) is No. 13.
Fillmore (10-0-0) is No. 3 Class D. Honeoye (9-2-0) is No. 12.
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