Valley Stream poised to repeat

The Valley Stream District girls’ lacrosse team has picked up right where it left off.
After a 13-2 record last season, the defending Conference V champions have breezed through its first two games of 2019 despite losing 11 players to graduation and are poised to repeat. After posting a 13-3 win over Roosevelt on March 27, Valley Stream improved to 2-0 with a 15-5 victory over another conference foe in Malverne/East Rockaway.
Valley Stream has put its games away early, outscoring the opposition by a combined score of 25-4 in the first half. That, plus moving its home games to a recently installed turf field at Memorial Junior High School, has provided lots of excitement for the program.
“We’re very excited for the season,” said coach Jessica Ricotta. “So far, we’ve been doing really well. I have some new girls that are stepping up and they’re really showing their leadership on the field.”
Emily Soldatic, a surprise last season with 14 goals, has proven so far that 2018 was no fluke with two five-goal games. The junior has emerged as the go-to scorer in her third year with the team and Ricotta knows that good things happen every time she touches the ball.

“She’s been improving every season,” Ricotta said. “She has a strong shot now and her placement on the goal is meticulous. If I want something done, I’ll get the ball to Emily and she’ll make it happen.”
All-Conference senior Isabella Morales is already threatening to surpass her 29-goal effort from last spring with seven tallies thus far. Morales has been a starter since her freshman year and under Ricotta’s tutelage since middle school.
“She grew as a player and I grew as a coach together,” Ricotta said. “She’s our captain this year, a voice of leadership who boosts team morale and is supportive of everyone on the team no matter what their level is.”
The defense is again anchored by Catherine Rivera and Amanda Shaukat, who also joined the scoring craze with a goal against Roosevelt. Both juniors, along with senior middie Giueseppina Cirelli, helped anchor a defensive corps that allowed the opposition to score in double digits just once during the regular season last year.
“Mandy is one of the fastest girls on the team. She can run the ball up the field from all the way from our goal to the other goal and not be touched,” Ricotta said of Shaukat. “Her and Cat, we play a zone defense and I can just trust them back there. I don’t have to say anything.”
Freshman goaltender Sierria Harris, a newcomer to the sport, has big shoes to fill with the departure of Caitlyn Lopek and has done the job so far with 10 saves over the first two games. Ricotta has been impressed with her perseverance and ability to easily forget goals scored on her.
Valley Stream battled Great Neck South and North this week and has a big early-season matchup at home against fast-starting Glen Cove this Saturday at 10 a.m.