Carle Place senior captain Matthew Babino, Long Island Class B badge under his arm, hugged junior Lucas Viegas as the Frogs began to walk off the field at Farmingdale State. Viegas smiled despite a bloody cut on his right knee, dried out by the cold November air.

You could call it a battle wound, and that would perfectly describe the mentality of Carle Place boys soccer, which defeated Babylon in a 1-0 decision Friday night in the state final/LI Class B final.

“We do the hard things that no one else wants to do,” Babino said. “We work when we are tired and we are that team that no one wants to play on. The one everyone hates, but no one can stop us.”

Carle Place and Babylon have met in three consecutive state quarterfinals, and the Nassau team has yet to allow a goal in those games. It’s a fact that coach Conor Reardon struggled to hide his smile when he heard it.

“They played together, they played as a unit,” Reardon said. “And what can you say about (goalkeeper) Max Córdova? “He made save after save and I’m going to name him the best player of the game.”

Córdova’s nine saves stole the show against a strong Babylon attack, especially in the first half. He made six saves in the first 40 minutes, two of them solid headers just yards from the net.

The senior wasn’t even a goalkeeper before this fall, but a joke between him and his friends at practice led him to change positions.

“I was always a forward, so to be in the net in a playoff game and win, after a year, winning means a lot to me and my wonderful teammates who have my back in everything,” Córdova said.

Sophomore Cristiano Costa scored the winning goal on a fumble in front of the net in the 54th minute, sending Carle Place (15-2-2) to Middletown for a state semifinal at 8:45 a.m. on Nov. 16 vs. Rye Neck or Chenago. Forks.

“Just fighting for the ball at every moment,” Costa said. “We wanted to pass the ball to our wingers, that was our game plan and we executed it towards the end.”

Babylon senior midfielder Ciaran Stein was the driving force of a Panthers offense that controlled the first half and most of the second half, while creating some of his team’s best scoring opportunities on on-ball plays stationary. The Panthers finish 15-2-1.