By Tony Bellissimo
This spring, Coach Dave Aguado is counting on old-fashioned hard work to allow the Eagles to be competitive against most teams.
³We won two games last year and lost all of our scoring and I¹m not sure where the offense is going to come from,² said Aguado, who wants to bring stability to a team on its fifth coach in as many seasons. ³But things are promising because of numbers. We¹ve got a JV again and 46 kids overall. We¹ve got about the same numbers from North and Central and a few from South. It¹s something to be excited about.²
Replacing star attack Bryant Amitrano, who scored 41 goals in 2006, is impossible but the team is looking for talented sophomores John Kaszubski and Howie Boyce to make some noise.
Boyce scored both goals in a season-opening defeat to Lawrence two weeks ago. ³John started every game last year as a freshman and has good ball-control skills,² said Aguado, who is assisted by Bill Brown. ³Howie¹s got varsity experience as well and he¹s off to a nice start.²
Junior midfielder Brad Brigagliano is one of four captains and
will need to contribute at both ends of the field. Seniors Dom
Talio and Willie Harris are instrumental pieces of the midfield, as is sophomore James Betz who handles the long pole.
Defensively, Valley Stream is led by junior captain Cameron Morgan. ³He¹s a strong player who gives us a physical presence,²
Aguado said.
Also being counted on for consistency in the back row are juniors Lee Bonaventure and Conor Bonaventure. The last line of defense is sophomore goaltender Luke Gagstetter, who averaged double digits in saves a year ago.
³He¹s come a long way since early last season and has proven
very good at simply stopping the ball,² Aguado said. ³He
anticipates well.²
There¹s no doubt Gagstetter will be kept busy by opponents. The Eagles face a brutal conference schedule, one that includes
defending county champion Massapequa and runner-up Oceanside.
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