59.0°,
Mostly Cloudy North confident as playoffs begin
Posted
Valley Stream North’s John Sabal, left, controls the ball in front of Bethpage’s Andrew Vitiello during Conference ABC-III action on Oct. 21.
Susan Grieco/Herald
Though a third straight boys’ soccer conference title escaped Valley Stream North in the final week of the regular season, the Spartans are back in the Nassau Class A playoffs and figure to be a tough out after finishing 8-2-2 in Conference ABC-III and 8-4-3 overall.
“It was a rough last week,” coach Dave Aguado said after North’s 5-0 victory Oct. 23 at Westbury snapped a two-game losing streak and clinched second place. “This is a good game for our morale,” he added. “We went 10 games without losing and then dropped two in a row, so it was important to go into the playoffs on a better note.”
The Spartans have a tough first-round matchup on their hands. As the No. 12 seed they’ll travel to face No. 5 Mineola on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Mustangs competed in Conference ABC-I. “We played Valley Stream South, Cold Spring Harbor and South Side from Conference I in non-league,” Aguado said. “We’re confident. Everyone pitches in and we never know who’s going to score. It could be a 1-0 game, so hopefully someone steps up.”
Against Westbury, seniors Xavier O’Connor and Pat Sullivan led the offense with two goals apiece and senior Kenny Vera chipped in his first goal of 2009. Senior goalkeeper Arnol Montoya, filling in for injured starter Danny Heaphy, made seven saves for the shutout.
Montoya could get the nod in Sunday’s playoff opener. Heaphy, who has battled injuries throughout the campaign, received stitches in his ear after a collision during North’s 1-0 loss to conference champion Hewlett on Oct. 19. “When Danny’s been healthy, he’s been great,” Aguado said. “He’s probably 50-50 for Sunday. If he can’t go we’ll have Arnol. He’s won some games too.”
The Spartans, who have a regular-season record of 24-4-6 since 2007 and two conference championships, entered the final week of the regular season in first place and control of their own destiny. The only goal they allowed to Hewlett came on a penalty kick by Jacob Tobias, and two days later they came up flat and fell 3-0 to Bethpage at home. “Hewlett’s physicality was the difference in that game, and for whatever reason we didn’t come to play against Bethpage,” Aguado said.
No conference opponent solved North the first time through the schedule. With O’Connor (seven goals, five assists), junior John Sabal (two goals, four assists) and senior Luigi Aquino (three goals, two assists) leading the midfield and senior Brian DeJunco and sophomore Ivan Dorador doing the same on defense, the Spartans outscored the competition by a 12-3 margin in the season’s opening half. O’Connor, the Conference ABC-IV Player of the Year in 2008, has led the team in scoring for three straight seasons.
“We had a few bounces go our way in the first half of the year that we capitalized on,” Aguado said. “The guys really work well together and brought this program to another level.”
Report an inappropriate comment
Comments