Mineola Soccer Edged by Valley Stream North 2-1

The Mineola Varsity Boys’ Soccer team was edged once again Thursday, this time a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Valley Stream North on the backfield of Mineola High School.

The Mustangs were tied with the Spartans at one when forward Juan Rivera scored his second goal of the game at the 52 minute mark in the second half. 

“It was a tough loss for us on our home field,” Mineola head coach Paul Pereira said. “It was also a moral victory in a sense that we stuck with a team that is likely to finish in the top of our conference. But I'm getting a little tired of the moral victories.”

Mineola (1-3-1) still has plenty of chances to salvage their season with a month left of soccer to play, but need to start racking up some wins in order to gain one of the four playoff spots that are available in the A-IV conference.

“The way i see it,” Pereira said, "is the top 3 teams are Island Trees, Clarke and Valley Stream North. We're going to be fighting with the other teams for that last playoff spot. We just have to learn how to finish games.”

The Mustangs had a chance against Valley Stream North when senior Justin Sandler scored his first goal of the season off an assist from Danny Pardo to tie the game at 1. Unfortunately the Spartans rallied off of Rivera's goal in the second half to snatch the victory.

The Mustangs will host conference foe West Hempstead on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.