On a frigid Monday evening at Wagner College on Grymes Hill, the local boys’ scholastic soccer community celebrated its biggest moment in four years with an inaugural Staten Island High School All-Star Game.

For those involved, the night capped a symbolic comeback from the pandemic — the arrival of which marked the end of the Staten Island High School Soccer League, which hasn’t returned since Monsignor Farrell captured the 2019 crown.

The event was the brainchild of John Tardy, the former Clemson University and St. John’s University forward who coached the men’s team at the College of Staten Island for over a decade before stepping down in the summer of 2022.

“I wanted to have a showcase, a tournament, before the season, but it didn’t happen … and I didn’t want to see these kids get overlooked,” said Tardy, who is back coaching at his alma mater, St. Joseph by-the-Sea HS, where he was a four-time Staten Island Advance All-Star.

“When I was at CSI, I would go recruit at all these all-star games — on Long Island, in the city, upstate and New Jersey. So, I wanted to do something to promote Staten Island kids.”

The match, which saw the South defeat the North by a 5-2 margin, wasn’t just a fun exhibition, as Tardy put his Rolodex to good use by inviting around 20 college coaches.

“I told the players what those college coaches will be looking for from them,” said South coach John Liantonio, who skippered St. Peter’s for 25 seasons before retiring two years ago. “They’ll be looking at how [the players] read the game, move the ball, make runs and how long they can possess the ball. I just tried to put them in comfortable positions, and I told them to keep it simple.

“Considering neither side practiced, I was pleasantly surprised at the skill level they showed. They moved the ball well.”

Even though 12 high schools were represented, many members of the predominantly senior-laden squads had experience playing with and against each other since they were toddlers.

“Even though we didn’t have any practices leading into this, we meshed together well,” said the South’s Johnathan Williams of Sea. “That really didn’t surprise me. I knew a lot of these guys, I grew up with them. There was a lot of talent on the field tonight. It was a great event that John Tardy put on. It was very competitive.”

In fact, the game appeared to be headed for penalty kicks as the score was deadlocked at 2-2 with under 13 minutes left in regulation. But after a nice run down the left side, Roman Shapar (New Dorp) passed in the box to Nicolas Fisherman (S.I. Academy), whose shot was stopped, only to have Esmin Vukovic (New Dorp) collect the rebound and give the South a 3-2 lead.

A Philip Vitarelli (Sea) rocket into the low left corner at the 70th minute, and a Daniel Shoykhet (New Dorp) tap-in at the left post off a beautiful cross from Peter Cardinale (Farrell) with four minutes remaining, closed out a night where the score took a backseat to the overall quality of play under the watchful eyes of college coaches.

“This was great exposure for the kids,” said Liantonio, who was coaxed out of retirement by Tardy. “They showed a great skill level; hopefully, they’ll have the opportunity to get a scholarship. We used to send colleges videotapes of kids, but it’s better that they see the players in person like this.”

NOTES: The North was piloted by R.J. Allen, a former Monmouth University standout and a veteran of five MLS seasons as a defender, mainly with New York City FC (2015-17). … The South side was made up of Shoykhet, Shapar, Vukovic and Anthony Pardo of New Dorp; Brian Puleo, Sebastian Leja and Aidan Grey of Tottenville; Jude Boyle of McKee/S.I. Tech; Cardinale, Alex Abbruzzese, Joseph Musso and Joseph Priolo of Farrell; Vitarelli, Williams and Aidan Hayes of Sea; and Fisherman of SIA. … The North featured Milton Pingarron, Yair Roman, Joseph Jacobs, Kareem Madito and Jared Quintero of Curtis; Dzmitry Piatrashka and Gael Moran of CSI HS; Juan Herrera, Leeran Shimonov, Cristan Navarro, Natanel Perez and Edin Pelinkoviq of Susan Wagner; Mckai Israel and Alvaro Sanchez of Port Richmond; Joseph Panichi of Moore Catholic; and Derek Inserra of St. Peter’s. … A Boyle blast less than three minutes into the match and a Vitarelli PK gave the South an early 2-0 cushion before the North knotted it at the half on goals from Herrera (PK) and Jacobs. … There had been a variety of different SIHSSL all-star contests “in the first seven or eight years of the league, mostly Catholic versus public school games,” noted Liantonio. “But little by little, kids started dropping out — I think they were concerned about injuries — and the game stopped.” … A solid crowd was on hand as the Wagner College parking lot was nearly filled.