The recent merger of the Lakeland High School boys summer soccer league with the Ossining summer league has produced exactly what Section 1 coaches hoped for—a cauldron of competitive games, tight margins, and meaningful development for programs with championship ambitions.
The Lakeland–Ossining merger has created a deeper, more competitive proving ground, which will culminate on Tuesday, August 4 at Ossining High School when the two leagues meet to crown an overall champion.
For nearly two decades, Lakeland coach Tim Hourahan has engineered one of the region’s most productive offseason environments. But even he admits that year 19 has been something different.
“Without question, year 19 has been the most competitive league in all my years running this event,” Hourahan said. "It’s been incredible to watch and be a part of, and I can anticipate some very competitive knockout round games.”
That competitiveness was on full display as 18 teams entered the knockout rounds on July 26, with few storylines more surprising—or impressive—than Mahopac’s rise. The Wolf Pac, which graduated a slew of talent from its Section 1 finalist team, secured the No. 4 overall seed after a 5-2-1 regular season before falling to Lakeland in the Aug. 2 semifinals. A late Mahopac goal with 90 seconds left tied the game at 1-1 and forced overtime, which ended with the teams still deadlocked. Lakeland prevailed, 3-1, on penalty kicks.
The Summer League regular season, however, may be the bigger indicator of the team's prospects this fall. The Wolf Pac finished tied atop the B League standings with Harrison; the latter won the group via tiebreakers (plus-9 goal differential to Mahopac’s plus-6)—even though Mahopac beat Harrison, 1-0, during the regular season.
Summer league can oftentimes be an indicator for fall success, and the Wolf Pac had impressive wins over both Yorktown and Arlington, two preeminent challengers for Section 1 titles.
Mahopac then defeated Irvington, 2-0, in the knockout round of the playoffs on July 26 at Lakeland High School, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with defending Section 1 champion Rye on July 31. The Wolf Pac eliminated the Garnets from playoff contention, battling their way into semis with a PK win over Rye.
Mahopac senior Nick Portanova (two goals) and goalie Connor Sterbens (two saves in the shootout) were critical factors in the PK win. Hawi Odongo, Jeremy Fuentes, Portanova, Ramsey Canafe and Michael Oteng scored for Mahopac in the shootout.
The matchups were intense from start to finish. Hourahan noted that out of 72 pool play games overall, 42 were either tied or decided by one goal.
“Teams came to compete this summer,” Hourahan said, “and it is a wide open competition to crown a winner.”
That parity has mattered. In the last six years, four Lakeland summer league champions went on to win Section 1 titles in the fall. In 2025, five of the 16 summer league teams played in a sectional finals: Class AAA, JJEF champs; AA, Harrison champs and Mahopac runner-up; A, Rye champs; B, Briarcliff runner-up.
The trend is clear: summer success translates.
Despite Mahopac losing so much to graduation, Hourahan, a man who knows his way around the Section 1 circuit, believes the Wolf Pac will be very strong this fall. At least that’s the chatter on soccer hill, which mounted to new heights this summer with the USA co-hosting the World Cup.
“Mahopac has some very strong younger players stepping up for them this summer and they have shown out very well in the summer league,” Hourahan said. “Mahopac, in my opinion, will be the favorite to win our league again this fall.”
Returning for the Wolf Pac will be senior outside back Michael Oteng, a special talent with all the necessary skills.
“He is going to be great for us,” Mahopac coach Chris Mulholland said.
Junior Cori Aliberti has taken the next step this past year and has been incredibly solid throughout the summer league, especially since Oteng has been in Europe all summer and only made the unit’s first game. Nick Portanova is someone who helps take the team to the next level with his patience and understanding of the game.
“Our defense has been our strongest area on the field throughout the summer league,” Mulholland said. “Conor Healy has been very solid, stepping in for his older and recently graduated brother, James Healy, on the left side of our defense.
"The biggest thing for us is that we are young, but many of the boys have experience playing in a game like the section final," the coach added. "We have only had one or two seniors at every game this summer, and we have stayed competitive against some really good teams.”
Mahopac junior Hawi Odongo is another player to watch.
“He’s a fantastic ball winner in the midfield and has been an important piece for us throughout,” Mulholland said. “Jeremy Fuentes (a senior) has done a great job getting us goals, scoring both in the first-round win over Irvington earlier this week.”
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