Thursday, October 1, 2026
Valley Stream South closed the boys’ soccer regular season in style on Oct. 15, getting a goal from Alex Castano 30 seconds into the game and a shutout from keeper Matt Labeck in a 1-0 victory at North Shore.
The Falcons, who went 8-2-1 in Conference A-2 play, finished three points behind first-place Plainedge and had a chance to hold second pending additional results for Floral Park and Glen Cove. Regardless, South is expected to host a Nassau Class A first-round playoff game this Friday with a tentative start time of 3 p.m.
“We were optimistic coming into the season that we could make a run for the conference title,” VSS coach Rich Boyd said. “We’ve been pretty consistent.
“Now it’s all about the playoffs and we’ll see if we can make a run,” Boyd added. “Hopefully we’ll start the playoffs at home. There’s so much parity. We saw it last year when South Side won it all as the 13-seed. Anything can happen on any given day.”
Based on the regular-season results, the Falcons (10-2-2 overall) will be difficult to eliminate. They didn’t lose consecutive games all season, and both of their setbacks (Lynbrook and Glen Cove) were by one goal. They had a nine-game unbeaten streak from Sept. 4-29.
“We’ve got a strong senior class and some younger guys have stepped up,” Boyd said.
South’s three-pronged forward attack comprised of seniors Castano, Will Sarrion and Lionel Monsia combined for 21 goals during the regular season. Castano (six goals) was also the Nassau County leader in assists (10) at the close of last week. Sarrior has seven goals, while Monsia has a team-leading eight to go along with seven assists.
“We’ve always used three forwards,” Boyd said. “A few other teams are doing it now.”
Sarrion opened the scoring in South’s 4-3 victory over Bethpage on Oct. 13. Castano followed off an assist from Monsia, senior Bryant Campbell (five goals on the year) scored the third goal on a penalty kick, and Castano set up Monsia for the fourth goal. Bethpage got within a goal with about five minutes remaining, but was unable to get the equalizer past Labeck.
“We’re going to be relying on Matt to step up in the playoffs,” Boyd said of the senior keeper. “Good goaltending is key to a long playoff run, just like in hockey.”
The defense in front of Labeck is led by Sarrion at sweeper, fellow seniors Donte Robinson and Jon Blake at fullback, and sophomore Brian Garay at center-back. “We always try to match up Donte against the opponent’s best attack,” Boyd said of Robinson, who played in the midfield last season. “Brian is very poised for a young player,” the coach noted of Garay, who has more than just chipped in offensively with seven goals.
The Falcons sandwiched a 2-0 win over Roslyn in between their only losses. Monsia had both goals and Labeck turned aside all six shots he faced.
