“Surreal” was the word tossed around most often Saturday, Oct. 31, as top-seeded Mahopac turned a Halloween afternoon into a historic celebration that lasted through the evening. By defeating second-seeded Lakeland, 1-0, the Wolf Pac banished years of postseason demons and secured the program’s first-ever Section 1 Class AA title on its home field.
The state-ranked (No. 5) Wolf Pac would eventually fall in a 2-1 heartbreaker ro Huntington in the regional final, but the history they made will stay with these players for the rest of their lives.
And if next year is anything like this one, the Pac may well clear that hurdle, as they did by winning the section after losing that final in 2025.
But for 365-ish days, the memory of last season’s championship loss to Harrison lingered. It was there in the offseason workouts, summer training sessions and every high-pressure moment of the 2026 campaign. The returning members of Mahopac's boys soccer team never forgot what it felt like to walk off the field one win shy of the first sectional championship in school history last October.
They made sure to tell a different story in the biggest game of their collective lives. Mahopac (17-1-2), after edging Lakeland (14-5-1, ranked No. 20 in NYS), etched in stone the 2026 Wolf Pac’s legacy: Best soccer team in school history.
“It’s a surreal feeling honestly, and I’m so happy and honored to bring a section title to Mahopac for the first time ever, especially on our home field,” Wolf Pac goalie Connor Sterbens said after making three key saves, all of the incredible variety. “It’s an honor to be a big part of the team as well and to be trusted by coach Mulholland all three years, even while playing through an injury right now. But I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the team around me. Having the backline that we do makes everything so much easier, as we trust each other so much. But we all know our season isn’t over yet and we are ready to make a push for states.”
That push came courtesy of All-Section junior midfielder Nick Portanova, who scored the game’s lone goal at 3:49 of the first half off a crisp feed from sophomore forward Manny Mejia, who played as feisty a game as any player in Mahopac history has.
In a final that matched two of the section's premier programs, chances were scarce and every challenge carried added significance. The Wolf Pac embraced the moment, matching Lakeland's intensity for 80 minutes and delivering the game's decisive breakthrough when Portanova and Mejia delivered the biggest goal in school history.
“Manny did his thing and I just finished,” Portanova said.
The victory capped a remarkable postseason run for Mahopac, which successfully navigated a difficult bracket to reach the championship game, including wins over Yorktown (5-2), Clarkstown North (5-0) and state-ranked (No. 13) Fox Lane (3-1) before taking out a vastly improved Lakeland team. After knocking off Fox Lane in the semifinals, the Wolf Pac saved their most important performance for the biggest stage and finished the Section 1 tournament by outscoring four foes by a combined 14-3 count.
Mahopac's defense once again proved to be its backbone, staving off multiple Hornets opportunities. The Wolf Pac frustrated Lakeland's attack throughout the afternoon, limiting dangerous chances and protecting the slender advantage with a composed, disciplined effort in front of Sterbens. As the final seconds ticked away, the championship that had eluded the program for so long was finally within reach, but coach Tim Hourahan’s youthful Lakeland club would not go quietly.
When the final whistle sounded, players raced toward a large home crowd and erupted in celebration. The jubilation stood in stark contrast to the emotions that followed last year's championship defeat. This time, there were tears of joy instead of heartbreak.
The title represents another milestone for a Mahopac program that has steadily risen among Section 1's elite under seventh-year coach Chris Mulholland. After spending years establishing a culture and building toward a breakthrough, the Wolf Pac can now call themselves champions.
“We’ve been working toward this for seven years,” Mulholland said. “It’s hard to describe how proud I am of these guys and those that came before them. It’s been a project to change the culture here, but we did it. The boys have been amazing. To lose the way we did last year and be able to come back, wow. This means so much to us. We’ve accomplished one big goal, and now it’s about going as far as we can. We’re going to prepare well and compete as hard as we can against whoever is in front of us.”
More importantly, the Wolf Pac no longer have to look back on what slipped away a year ago. They made history, and their season continued after Tuesday’s 2-1 win in the opening round of the NYSPHSAA tournament against Section 9 champion Goshen at Byram Hills High School.
Mahopac returned to Armonk on Saturday, Nov. 7, for the NYSPHSAA regional final, where the Wolf Pac fell to Huntington, 2-1, bringing their historic season to an end.
Against Goshen, it was ‘All Manny, All Day’ in the end, as the slick speedster would not be denied. Tied at 1-1 — after Mahopac allowed an own goal in the first half — Mejia scored with 2:30 left in regulation, negating what was some 20-25 minutes of Goshen dominance.
“Yeah, this wasn’t our best game,” Portanova admitted. “I don’t think we played our best but we still got the result. Manny came in clutch with the goal. Connor was amazing tonight and kept us in the game many times. We just had more hunger tonight and we did not want our season to end.”
The Gladiators were playing in honor of legendary longtime coach Mike Kelly, who coached, as it turns out, his final game.
Mejia’s tally followed a first-half marker from Wolf Pac senior captain Jack Rothmann, who scored at 10:19 of the first half off a well-placed chip from Portanova. The goal came just after Sterbens made a point-blank save at 22:26 to keep things level.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” senior captain Michael Oteng said after spearheading a defense that fended off Lakeland's desperate attempts to knot the match, including three throw-ins in the final 1:40. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long. I'm so blessed to be a captain of this team. Leading these boys to the first section championship after losing last year’s final is crazy. We’re not done yet! Hopefully, we win regionals and then states. I was so nervous coming up to this game, and I knew it was gonna be a dog fight, but we came out with the win at the end and that’s all that matters.”
Much to the chagrin of the home crowd, Mahopac had a goal waved off early in the second half. Following a Portanova direct kick, two attempts were negated before Mejia took a pass from Oteng and snapped home a header. But, while the Wolf Pac faithful cheered, the score was negated moments later because the ball had been served before the referee’s whistle.
“We just had to stay composed at that point,” Portanova said. “We have great leaders on this team who made sure we stayed focused. Last year, we were crying at this time, so to be part of Mahopac history today is pretty special. It feels great, not just because it’s our first one, but because we know what it’s like to be on the opposite side of this. I didn’t want to experience that again, to see the other team having their biggest moment while we’re crying our eyes out.”
There were tears of joy this year, and the Wolf Pac were still on the trail to bigger and better accomplishments as of Nov. 3.
“Yeah, that game was a tough one to play,” Sterbens said after another lights-out performance in the win over Goshen. “We were getting dominated, but our defense stepped up when it had to, and Manny being able to finish it off with two minutes left gave us one of the biggest sighs of relief. We are ready to keep moving and we are excited to make history for our town.”
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