V.S. North seeks playoff push

Posted

The Valley Stream North girls’ soccer team entered the 2016 season as a team on the rise after a tough overtime loss in the first round of the previous year’s Nassau Class A playoffs. But instead, the Lady Spartans struggled with consistency and finished with a 5-7-2 mark, including a 3-0 loss at MacArthur in the county quarterfinals.

To make matters worse, two-time Conference Player of the Year and 2015 all-state star forward Yamilee Eveillard graduated last spring. The loss of eight other seniors left coach Geoff O’Connell with questions about his lineup and who can emerge as the go-to players on a squad seeking another postseason berth.

“I would definitely call this year, not a rebuilding year, but an adjustment year,” O’Connell said. “We have about five or six starters that did return, so it’s just kind of a puzzle game trying to figure out new pieces of the new girls that have come up and who’s going to really step up to fill the void.”

The Lady Spartans are off to a slow start at 0-3-1. The campaign began with a forgetful 8-0 home defeat to Bellmore JFK on Sept. 7, but the girls fought for a scoreless tie against a tough Jericho team five days later. That was followed by consecutive one-goal losses to Cold Spring Harbor and Plainedge, but Valley Stream North scored three times in those contests while allowing five. 

“We were able to figure out our defensive positions [and] figure out who’s really going to help us out back there,” O’Connell said. “We had a drastic change in the amount of goals that we’ve given up.”

The defense now features junior Giuseppina Cirelli, who O’Connell said has “done a great job” since becoming the starting sweeper the past two games. She is joined by senior captain Amirah Campbell, senior Cassie Saracino and incoming junior Katie Hawkins.

O’Connell also has some options who could help ease the loss of Eveillard. Junior Isabella Morales scored her first goal of the season against Cold Spring Harbor after netting four in 2016 and senior midfielder Briana Williams is coming off a four-goal campaign. Junior midfielders Baylee Berkley and Francesca Melisi scored the Spartans’ other two goals in 2017 and freshman forward Kayla Schimmenti is viewed as a future cornerstone.

“She’s an award winner,” O’Connell said of Morales. “She’s won all-conference and all-class, so [I’m] looking for her seniority up there to help Schimmenti.”

Junior Gianna Moneta and senior Abby Fitzsimmons have both seen action in goal this season, with Moneta recording seven saves against Plainedge on Sept. 16.

“She’s a solid keeper, but, most importantly, she’s a keeper who can take goal kicks and has a strong punt,” O’Connell said of Moneta. “She’s an upbeat person who, I think, is going to be a good leader.”

O’Connell said the goal the rest of the way is to improve every game and to solidify a spot in the playoffs.

“We’ve made the playoffs in five of the last six years and it’s definitely a tradition that we want to keep moving forward,” he said.