The South Kortright boys soccer team rebounded from a heartbreaking end to the 2022 campaign with a sectional championship in 2023.
Now, the Rams are adding to the accolades of a tremendous campaign by sweeping the Daily Star’s boys soccer awards. Senior midfielder Connor Quarino and junior forward Jack Byrne are the 2023 Co-Players of the Year while Bob VanValkenburgh is the 2023 Coach of the Year.
South Kortright entered 2023 needing to replace a number of key players lost from the 2022 squad that fell to Southern Cayuga in penalty kicks in the Section IV Class D title game.
Some early-season struggles brought up even more questions as to whether SK could take the next step.
“In the beginning of the season we lost in the [Stamford] Mayor’s Cup to Unatego in the finals,” Quarino said. “Everybody was like, ‘They’re not a sectional team, they’re not going to be able to go anywhere.’”
“It was sort of unknown territory compared to the last couple years,” VanValkenburgh added about this year’s group. But he added that the team eventually found its footing through the back end. “Our defense as a whole from after about the second game of the season, they controlled games.”
In one particular 13-game stretch, the Rams allowed just six goals. Combined with a balanced all-around effort from the likes of Quarino, Byrne, Darren Dengler, Damon Pietrantoni, Lee Marigliano and others, SK finished the year 15-3 with a Delaware League title and its second outright sectional championship in three years.
“The kids just started believing in themselves,” VanValkenburgh said. “I think they worked a little bit harder the last third of the year because they knew there was something out there for them.”
Byrne credits the play of players stepping into starting roles this year and growing into those roles over the course of the season.
“This year the expectations weren’t as high because we lost a lot of people but the bench from the year before stepped up and we won sectionals,” he said.
The Rams made a habit of getting out to fast starts in their playoff run, scoring in the opening minutes against Morris in the sectional quarterfinals, Cherry Valley-Springfield/Sharon Springs in the semifinals and Edmeston in the 1-0 victory in the title game.
Against Edmeston in the Class D final, Byrne found the back of the net in less than five minutes into play. That goal would stand up as the winner as South Kortright avenged last year’s devastating defeat.
“The worst way to lose in soccer is definitely on penalty kicks,” Quarino said. “For us to get back to the sectional finals, handle business, get it done, being able to put that banner up in the school, really means a lot.”
“It took a lot of hard work and improvement to win it this year,” VanValkenburgh added. “I was pretty excited when we won it. But it’s for the kids and they deserved it.”
Quarino is best known for his exploits on the hardwood. The two-time defending Daily Star Boys Basketball Player of the Year, he’s in the midst of leading SK in its pursuit of a third straight sectional title.
On the soccer field, he was given a great deal more responsibility from VanValkenburgh as he shifted from his traditional wing position to the central midfield where he served as the engine of the Rams’ attack.
“It was definitely a struggle in the beginning of the season because I was so used to playing on the wing, getting through balls,” he said. “But then moving to center mid, I was the one sending the through balls and playing defense and playing offense.”
Despite those early growing pains, Quarino eventually thrived in his new role, finishing with seven goals and 17 assists while being the only local boys player to earn Small School All-State recognition from the United Soccer Coaches.
VanValkenburgh praised the way Quarino reads the game, comparing it to how he approaches a basketball game.
“His vision is similar to the basketball court,” VanValkenburgh said. “He sees the game, he knows the game. I think it’s really the same thing that sticks out in basketball, his change of speed. He is so quick, whether it’s with a basketball or a soccer ball.
VanValkenburgh also commented on how Quarino stepped up as a leader in his senior season as one of the team’s captains.
“Connor’s the type of kid who’s pretty quiet, but the kids know when he talks, you need to be listening,” he said. “He’ll always say, ‘Coach, what do we need to do?’ He just has such a good feel for the game and you can count on him. He’s going to give you everything he’s got in practice, in games. He’s an educated athlete.
“He’s a gamer, one of those guys that you want in the big game. We’re fortunate to have a talent like him.”
“It really was a season I’ll remember because I never thought we’d get to sectional finals based off the beginning of the year,” Quarino said.
He added how fulfilling it was to play with his younger brother Boston and to see how he grew over the course of the season.
“It definitely was a struggle for him at first but he definitely got better,” he said. “The seniors all did a great job pushing him and getting him to where he needs to be. The one I’m definitely going to miss the most is Boston.”
Byrne was coming off a great sophomore campaign in which he scored 14 goals and had three assists. But with so many key pieces from last year gone, he received much more attention on a game-to-game basis as SK’s primary scoring threat up front.
He responded by playing an even stronger all-around game without losing his scoring touch, finishing with 16 goals and 10 assists.
“Teams started keying on him and he’s not tall, but he’s solid. He has a soccer mind,” Van Valkenburgh said. “This year he was getting double-teamed and he would take the punches and roll with it and get back up. He wasn’t one of those kids that would complain. He’s sort of like a bulldog; he gets low to the ground and gritty and just gets the job done.”
“One of the main things was being able to finish better,” Byrne said about what he was focusing on throughout the season, while also mentioning wanting to emerge as more of a leader to the younger players.
Like Quarino, VanValkenburgh said Byrne’s leadership style is one conveyed through actions instead of words.
“He’s always coming out with scars and mud and his glasses half on, half off,” VanValkenburgh said. “That type of leadership is as valuable as the vocal one.”
For VanValkenburgh, this is his first Coach of the Year award since winning back-to-back honors in 2016 and 2017.
Both Quarino and Byrne became immersed in South Kortright athletics by serving as ball boys in elementary school and have seen their relationship with the program and the man known as Coach Van grow ever since.
“Seeing how he coaches, how he coaches players, what his style’s like, how he handles the big moments and what he does so I can train and where I can get my game so that in those big moments I don’t fail, it’s all from being a ball boy for both soccer and basketball,” Quarino said. “It created a really good relationship between me and coach.”
“I’ve been a ball boy since probably fourth grade, so [the relationship’s] grown even before varsity soccer,” Byrne said. “He’s definitely one of the best around.”
Players of the Year: Connor Quarino, senior, South Kortright/Jack Byrne, junior, South Kortright
Coach of the Year: Bob VanValkenburgh, South Kortright, 15-3
2023 BOYS SOCCER ALL-STARS
Center State Conference: Colyn Criqui, Cooperstown; Conrad Erway, Cooperstown; Charlie Lambert, Cooperstown, Frank Panzarella, Cooperstown
Delaware League: Trevor Waid, Charlotte Valley; Nolan Barnhart, Downsville/Walton; Phillip Eggers, Downsville/Walton; Travis Houck, Downsville/Walton; Jamie Perry, Gilboa; Sean Wille, Gilboa; Thomas Houlihan, Hunter-Tannersville; Aleksander Bandham, Margaretville; Tristan McVitty, Margaretville; Jack Byrne, South Kortright; Darren Dengler, South Kortright; Lee Marigliano, South Kortright; Damon Pietrantoni, South Kortright; Connor Quarino, South Kortright
Midstate Athletic Conference: Ryan Dawson, Afton/Harpursville; Bobby Mercilliott, Afton/Harpursville; Toni Obeada, Afton/Harpursville; Equan Patterson, Afton/Harpursville; Easton Porter, Bainbridge-Guilford; Bryce Burrows, Delhi; Tabor Reed, Delhi; Jonah Browning, Greene; Kloden Rapp, Greene; Kayden Renfrow, Oxford; Tucker Cattanach, UV/G-MU; Connor Edgett, UV/G-MU
Southern Tier Athletic Conference: Makya Morrison, Oneonta; Jason Miller, Oneonta; Matthew Rubin, Oneonta; Jayden Zakala, Oneonta
Tri-Valley League: Kris Cade, CV-S/SS; Max Horvath, CV-S/SS; Austin Galley, Edmeston; Gavin McEnroe, Edmeston; Preston Graham, Edmeston; Asa Dugan, Morris; Ryan Murphy, Morris; Mehki Regg, Schenevus; Chase Birdsall, Unatego/Franklin; David Clapper, Unatego/Franklin; Jacob Kingsbury, Unatego Franklin; Aiden Ross, Unatego/Franklin; Ben Ballard, Worcester; Derek Land, Worcester