Valley Stream South boys' soccer back on map

A year older and wiser, things are falling into place for Valley Stream South boys’ soccer this season.

The Falcons are 3-3-0 in the A West Conference and 3-3-1 overall heading into this week’s action. That record is a marked improvement over 2022, in which South finished 2-8-1 in the league, as many underclassmen played regularly.

"After Covid, we had some difficult years," coach Rob Tronolone said. "But the good thing was that a lot of the current seniors and juniors had to play a lot of minutes on varsity as freshmen and sophomores. That experience is finally paying off a little bit."

It also demonstrated the resilience of the players.

"The year after Covid, we got beat up pretty bad," Tronolone said. "We got blown out of a lot of games. Last year we got a little better. We were able to win some games, but it wasn't enough. These kids just stuck with it. They trained all summer and it's finally paying off. It's nice to see them rewarded for hard work.

"We were so young those two years. We physically got beat up and that resulted in getting beat on the scoreboard. But they just loved the sport so much. They knew they had the ability. We circled this year as the year we were going make our move. They just bought into it."

It also has been gratifying for Tronolone.

"Definitely. It was ugly for a while for those past two years," he said. "They try and get together as much as possible when we don't have practice. The bond that they have is great."

Senior forward Matthew Schapira has done the bulk of the scoring with eight goals while setting up four others. He recorded a hat trick in a 4-2 win at Lynbrook on Sept. 8.

"They've given us trouble the last couple of years, but we were able to finally get a victory," Tronolone said. "That was pretty exciting.

"He worked hard all summer. He's in great shape. We're trying to find positions where we can utilize his talents. He's got great speed. He just makes plays for us."

So does midfielder-forward Adrian Rodriguez, who has contributed 4 goals and 1 assist. "He's played valuable minutes the last four years," Tronolone said. "He's an extremely hard worker. He does everything we ask of him. He always does what's best for the team. He's a forward at heart but we put him in the midfield sometimes."

No team lives by offense alone, and the Falcons have deployed a solid backline of senior defenders - Jake Valinotti and Dangelo Vallejo and juniors Sebastian Chavez and Iyoshua Baxter.

"Our back four is pretty solid," Tronolone said. "They're always communicating with each other. They've been playing together for a couple years. They trained all summer together. It's benefited us in a big way."

South stands in fourth place, which would translate to a playoff spot.

"Our goal is to hold the position if not climb up the table a little more," Tronolone said.