V.S. North heads in right direction

Valley Stream North continued its momentum and climb up the Nassau Conference A-VII boys’ soccer standings with a 3-0 victory over Seaford Oct. 5.

Senior striker Marvin Eveillard scored his team-leading ninth goal of the year and sophomore Juan Rivera added a goal and an assist for the Spartans, who upped their unbeaten string to four and improved to 3-2-2 in conference games.

“The guys were down on themselves after we started 0-2, but they’re playing with confidence now,” VSN coach Dave Aguado said. “We have the first-place team [Island Trees] coming up and we’re excited about it.”

Senior Dondre Irving, one of North’s key defenders, also picked up a goal and sophomore keeper Alec D’Aulisa made four saves for the team’s second shutout in October. Senior keeper Corey Jacques blanked Cold Spring Harbor, 1-0, on the first day of the month in a non-league game, making seven saves in the process.

“We changed the defense a while back and things are falling into place,” said Aguado, who moved sophomore Quentin Sathasivam from an outside midfield spot to center-back. “Also our goalies just keep getting better every day. They were inexperienced when we started the year but they’ve improved with more games under their belt.”

The presence of Sathasivam on defense has allowed the physical and talented Irving to be more aggressive at the other end. “Dondre’s able to take more risks and he’s scored on a few headers off set plays,” Aguado said. Irving scored off a header off an assist from Eveillard early in the second half to give the Spartans a 1-1 tie with Mineola Oct. 3.

Also on defense, North has seniors Javed Kahn and Isidore Severin as well as junior Richie Vergara logging the majority of time at fullback. They’ve helped batten down the hatch in recent weeks as the team has allowed just two goals in the last four games.