we have in this program,” added Coach
Jusino.
Briarcliffe soccer players may play
with a chip on their shoulder, but they also
play behind underrated support from the
school. Morais mentioned an all-expenses
paid preseason trip, free gear, games with
Division I programs, and other perks
enjoyed by his players. The fifth year
coach (two national titles, three runner
up finishes) told me hasn’t really had to
recruit over the last few years because of
the reputation he’s helped create for his
super successful, player-friendly program.
T
Briarcliffe
playing like
Bulldogs
Story by Scott Bickard // Photos Courtesy of Briarcliffe Athletics
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he Briarcliffe men’s
soccer team (102-1) plays its home games at
Triangle Park in Hicksville, a
nice field but one that also runs
youth and adult leagues. Young
head coach Rafael Morais sets up
shop in a shared “athletic office”
with the schools’ seven other athletic
teams.
The Bethpage campus contains not
a patch of grass – in fact the building
stands at a close enough distance to the
old Grumman factories that it could be
said Briarcliffe has negative grass.
It is comments and perceived slights
such as these that drive the soccer program
and Briarcliffe’s enormously successful
athletic department in general. That
point was made by Morais, whose teams
have competed in the last five national
championships and won last year’s title,
and reinforced by head baseball coach Ed
Jusino, who happened to be listening (the
office’s proximities made that inevitable)
and whose baseball teams have happened
to won the last two national championships.
“Bulldog” (also the team’s mascot) is how
Rafael Morais describes his stout senior
midfielder Leandro Caldas. “That’s a
good way to describe the type of athletes
The strength of Morais’ program
derives from the system he inherited
from former coach Jack Stefanowski
(who’s since coached the Nepal national
team and in Peurto Rican professional
leagues; “a great guy,” said Morais) and
a pipeline of international recruits. Most
of his roster consists of guys from South
America, including Brazil, Columbia,
Uruguay and El Salvador as well as a few
players from Mexico. Some attended high
school around Long Island. Others came
directly over seas. These are guys who
may have been just below standard for
pro ball in their home countries or who
want to use their soccer skills as a way to
an education and life in the United States.
Those who emigrate, Morais told me, will
apply for an extension on their visa when
they graduate to see if they can make it
in the U.S. They may even find work at
Morais’ youth soccer academy. The soccer
program is a “big family,” says Morais.
The players are close and integration is
easier than one would think given the
diverse backgrounds.
The makeup of Morais’ roster is the
norm at nationals, where players from all
over the world play for colleges all over
the United States. Gameplay reflects its
international participants: pretty soccer
filled with constant passing where “the ball
is kept on the ground”. Some players play
pro ball, including a few of Morais’ former
players. If I had any more doubts about the
competiveness of Briarcliff’s division –
which isn’t I, II, or III but the United States
Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA)
– he recounted how well his team has
fared against DI and DII opponents like
Stony Brook, CW Post, Sacred Heart and
Molloy, all of whom the Bulldogs have
played to at least a tie during Morais’
tenure. Such games bring out the best in
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