STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Fifty years later, John Ramsey still vividly recalls the Stony Brook men's soccer program's first conference title.
Ramsey, now 84 and retired in Bay Shore with his wife of 61 years, Carol, served as the first head coach of the program, for its first 15 seasons.
And it was on Nov. 3, 1970, with the program only seven years old, that the team — then known as the Patriots — notched the biggest win in its history to that date.
Stony Brook defeated Brooklyn College, 2-0, in overtime to clinch the Met Soccer Conference Division II championship. The victory came in a must-win match en route to a 9-1-2 season.
As described by the Statesman newspaper 50 years ago:
Deep into the first overtime, [Solomon] Mensah picked up a pass at the edge of the Brooklyn penalty area. The entire Stony Brook offensive surged forward. The penalty box was a mass of entangled humanity. Mensah shot; the ball caromed hard to Aaron George, [who] from out of nowhere, put a fantastic left-foot liner hooking into the upper-left corner of the net.
"The goalkeeper never had a chance," Ramsey recalls. "Although it happened a long time ago, our team members will never forget that game or the celebration that night. We had a great team, and they played like men possessed in the game.
"The thrill of that game, and the entire season for that matter, never get old. There was a good-sized crowd at the game and they went wild when we scored the second goal."
Dave Tuttle had 12 saves in the victory against Brooklyn College.
Mensah, George, Danny Kaye, Peter Goldschmidt and Tuttle were named first-team All-Met. Kaye also nabbed Player of the Year, while Ramsey was the Coach of the Year.
Goldschmidt went on to enjoy a successful career in the Half Hollow Hills schools as a physical education teacher and varsity soccer coach. Kaye worked as an engineer with Honeywell. Another member of the team, Greg Speer, founded Speer Equipment Company in Rochester.
As for the celebration after the win against Brooklyn College, Ramsey recalls: "When time expired I spoke to Ed Kennedy, Brooklyn's coach, and we gathered our equipment and ran to the gym, where yours truly was soon sputtering and floundering in the pool after being tossed in during one of Hank von Mechow's swimming classes. With his approval of course. Seems like yesterday.
"Oh to be 34 again!"
