The West Hempstead boys’ soccer team has its blueprint for success.
It came last Friday at Clarke where the Rams picked up their first conference win of the season and second overall, a 2-0 victory that followed five consecutive losses.
It’s the first conference win for West Hempstead since October, 2022.
“It showed the things we’ve been working on — keeping the ball wide, trying to get into the corners, trying to create some chaos in the box, flood the box with bodies, looking for tips and different deflections and rebounds, that’s what we did,” Rams coach Chris Van Kovics said.
“Blueprint” is a phrase that echoes throughout the field every day at practice.
“It’s all I talk about, the blueprint,” Van Kovics said. “We have a defensive blueprint. We have an offensive blueprint. We have a blueprint for set pieces.”
And that was all executed against Clarke.
Yisat Melendez got his head on Justin Jurado’s service into the box to put West Hempstead in front in the 19th minute and Jason Herrera scored the second goal off a pass from Josiah Verdi into the box.
Goalkeeper Daniel Sanchez made three saves for his first clean sheet of the season.
“The shutout is what I'm more impressed with,” Van Kovics said. “Having the shutout was huge for us because it shows that our defensive pressure is not that bad.”
Sanchez has been a bright spot for the Rams. He’s saved a penalty kick this season and made several point-blank saves in a 3-0 loss to defending county champion Carle Place that could have been more lopsided if not for the senior.
In front of Sanchez is Jurado, the team’s leader at center back. The three-year varsity player has made tremendous strides since last season.
“He's grown up a lot in terms of being a leader. He's asked to do a lot on the back line. He’s definitely been a big plus back there. He’s done a very good job,” Van Kovics said. “He’s solid. He does a lot back there. He’ll make his runs when he can, but he marks their goal scorer. He’s got some size for us. He’s done a lot for us.”
Angel Guzman prefers to play in the midfield, but has had to sacrifice his offense to help shore up the defense as the starting sweeper.
Also anchoring the backline is David Maldonado, a lacrosse-first player who is excelling in his first real season of soccer.
“He's a tough kid and he's done a lot,” Van Kovics said. “He’s learned a lot back there.”
Sorely missed for the Rams is senior Elber Zavala, who played just five minutes of the first match before injuring his knee.
“He’s a goal scorer and he’s not there,” Van Kovics said. “Having that extra speed and toughness in the box and trying to get the ball out the wing, trying to replace him is like trying to replace [Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei] Ohtani. You can’t do it.”
