Sports
Mineola Boys Soccer Shut Out by West Hempstead
Tough Rams team rains down 4 goals against Mustangs.
When it rains it pours. It was still relatively dry Monday afternoon on the backfield of Mineola High School as the boys varsity soccer team was down 1-0 against West Hempstead in the first half.
The hard downpour didn’t start until the second half of Mineola’s soccer game against West Hempstead Monday afternoon. The Mustangs were still in the game, only down 1-0 as the skies began to open up. That’s when the skies opened up and so did the Mustang defense, giving up 3 more goals in a 4-0 loss to the Rams.
“It’s all the more frustrating because we’ve been in every game and haven’t had the ball bounce our way once this season,” said Mineola head coach Paul Pereira. “The players have not quit and continue to work hard. Hopefully they will be rewarded with some well deserved wins down the stretch.”
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During the 2011 season the Mustangs were an offensive juggernaut, locked in battle with Island Trees for a top spot in the conference. This season goals have been hard to come by – their games have been one goal differences – and the Mustangs have only one conference win under their belt – that by default to Seaford.
“We are in a rebuilding year and are building for the future,” said Pereira. “The one thing I’m proud of is that our guys have conducted themselves well in what has been a tough season.”
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On the other side of the coin, West Hempstead (3-3, 5-3) was clicking on all cylinders as senior Luis Escobar scored the first goal of the game and had an assist to lead the Rams. Kevin Macario, Julio Leonardo and Robert Grogan also scored late goals.
“This is the most goals we have scored all season,” West Hempstead coach Chris Van Kovics said. “Basically our team’s blueprint is defense and goalkeeping, rotating fresh bodies in and out of the game and creating opportunities to score. That’s what we're all about.”
They faced a tough Valley Stream North team on Tuesday before closing out their regular conference schedule in a home game against Mineola on Monday.
The Mustangs are now 1-6-1 in conference and face Valley Stream North at home on Thursday before closing out their regular season at West Hempstead next Monday.
