Lawrence earns conference win

After suffering back-to-back shutout defeats to open the Conference A-II boys’ soccer campaign, Lawrence exploded for four first-half goals at Hewlett on Sept. 12 and rolled to a 6-1 victory.

Junior Darwin Reyes had two goals and two assists as the Golden Tornadoes, who finished 4-4-3 in conference games last season, avoided another slow start. “We typically haven’t been a strong-starting team,” Lawrence coach Patrick Leary said. “This year we fell behind in quality practice time because many of the kids were working until the end of August. It affected us.”

The Golden Tornadoes beat Carle Place and Valley Stream South in non-league matchups but fell to Glen Cove, 4-0, and Division, 3-0, to open conference play. “Going into Hewlett we’re staring at digging an 0-3 hole in the conference,” Leary explained. “We definitely had a sense of urgency. We made some adjustments and I was pleasantly surprised with how the game unfolded.”

Senior Kevin Rodriguez and freshman Mauricio Puerto added two goals apiece, while junior goalkeeper Diego Depaz made six saves. Depaz made his first start between the pipes in 2016 and allowed only a penalty kick goal to Hewlett’s Alex Vardaro in the second half. “The biggest change we made was moving Diego back to the goal where he was last year,” Leary said. “We tried him in the field and he did fine, but the reality is we need him in the goal. He’s just a solid keeper.”

Two days after beating their neighboring rivals, Lawrence settled for a scoreless draw at defending Nassau Class A champion Floral Park. The game was halted four minutes into the second half due to lightning and heavy rain. Depaz made a handful of difficult stops, Leary said, to help the Golden Tornadoes (3-2-1 overall) escape with a point. Games are tagged official once a full half of play is complete.

“The storm came on so quickly,” Leary said. “They had better and more scoring chances, so it wasn’t so bad for us to come away with a tie. It’s a game, along with the Hewlett game, we can use as a stepping stone.”

After three straight lopsided affairs, Leary believes most of the remaining nine games will be more like the Floral Park game. “I told the guys after the Hewlett game not to expect the season to continue that way,” he said. “Chances are every game we’ve got left will be more like Floral Park than the other three.”

Lawrence’s roster is comprised of a mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen. Ninth-graders Puerto and Danny Cifuentes, along with sophomore Sal Chaudhry are seeing plenty of minutes. Chaudhry and senior Wesley Vasquez (two goals, four assists) start at center-midfield. “Wesley is a special talent who can dominate both sides of the field,” Leary said.

Reyes (six goals, three assists) is off to a tremendous start splitting time at forward and midfield. Rodriguez moved to forward from a halfback position, but the defense remains a strength with junior David Barrientos at sweeper, senior Kenny Orellano at stopper, and senior Gerber Perez and junior Derick Canales at fullback.