Fast start for North Shore

The North Shore Vikings boys’ soccer team entered 2019 on a quest to improve from last year’s 4-4-2 league record. Fortunately for the program, a young and talented group returned to gain further varsity experience and help cultivate a successful Conference A3 campaign.
The group started off well, winning three of its first four games of the season. With a 1-0 win over Mineola, a 2-2 draw against crosstown rival Glen Cove, a 1-0 win over Valley Stream North, and a 2-0 win over Lynbrook, the Vikings cruised to a 3-0-1 overall start and a 2-0 Conference A3 start.
“We opened up with Manhasset and for our first game we played very well,” said North Shore coach Mike Bishop. “We turned around and drew with Glen Cove, who are very good technically, but we showed a lot of character.”
Those two matchups prepared North Shore well for the start of league play. “We then opened up our league play against Valley Stream North, which we won 1-0,” Bishop said.
Devon Seneca scored the lone goal for North Shore in the league opener at home, and was assisted by Vasilis Ganasoulis.

“We then played very well against Lynbrook on the road,” Bishop said. Ganasoulis led the team with two points total (one goal, one assist). His assist came to Matt Symbouras, who netted the team’s other goal.
Then, the Vikings met some adversity after a long bus ride to Lawrence where they ended up on the wrong side of a 4-2 final score.
“We made some careless mistakes, mainly some bad clearances where they were able to take advantage because they have some very good strikers,” Bishop said. “Lawrence is a good team, and they end up towards the top of our conference every year. But we are capable of playing a lot better than we did, and I want to say that this was an anomaly of what we will play like this year.”
Tied 0-0 for much of the first half, North Shore tried to build a rhythm that just couldn’t find the back of the net in the first frame. Nick Fraser and Seneca both eventually scored a goal for the Vikings, but Lawrence’s Gabe Viera found paydirt twice and also assisted on a third goal to lead his team past the visiting North Shore.
Next, the Vikings will travel to Floral Park. “They are very different from Lawrence,” Bishop said. “They are big, they are athletic, and they always have strikers in the league leaders in goals.”
Bishop added that his team may be well-suited to match up with Floral Park’s style, though. “I think our team stacks up pretty well against that kind of play, and we had a very physical matchup in our win over Lynbrook,” Bishop said.
Along with the sophomore Seneca and juniors Ganasoulis and Fraser, Bishop also credits his sophomore goalkeeper Varick Fleischman for his skill and being one of the most capable he’s seen in conference play.
“I think he is the best keeper in the conference,” Bishop said.
With big praise and so-far successful results for the young core, Conference A3’s top contenders will be circling North Shore on their calendars for weeks to come.