Promising start for V.S. Central

Valley Stream Central senior Arnold Mwape broke a scoreless tie with Long Beach with a one-timer off the post with two minutes remaining in the first half and added his second goal of the game with 18 minutes left to lead the Eagles to a 3-1 victory in a Nassau Conference AA-IV boys’ soccer game at Firemen’s Field on Sept. 13.

Senior Justin Meza also scored for Central, which won its second straight after opening conference play with a loss to Calhoun. The Marines, who also dropped their AA-IV opener at Calhoun, scored on junior Sean Malone’s penalty kick with 14 minutes to go and got a dozen saves from sophomore goalkeeper Scott Gernhardt.

“We’re a hungry team and they’re a hungry team,” Eagles coach Lenny Fiorentino said. “We created a lot of scoring chances. It would’ve been nice to covert a few more, but their goalie was tremendous. He made some incredible point-blank saves.”

Playing in front of a defense led by sophomore Alex Camas, one of three key newcomers according to Long Beach coach Leo Palacio, and senior Charles Everett, Gernhardt made two of his biggest saves midway through the first half when he stopped a hard drive by Central’s top offensive weapon, senior Jaime Quiroz, from 18 yards out and denied junior Christopher Turnier’s rebound attempt on the doorstep.

Long Beach, which endured a winless campaign in 2015, had a golden opportunity to strike first with a 3-on-1 but a shot from inside the box was pushed just wide of Central senior goalie Daniel Melgar, who finished the afternoon with seven saves.

“We brought back a lot of guys from last season, but we’re still really young,” Palacio said. “The kids are working hard and making progress. We just have to put everyone in the right position and get that chemistry going.”

The Eagles, with Meza, Quiroz and Gerry Thermal leading the charge, turned up the pressure in the second half and eventually got results. But not before Long Beach junior defender Adam Leavitt made a save at the goal line by heading the ball out of danger.

Meza scored on a left-footed blast 15 minutes into the second half to give Central a 2-0 lead, and Mwape added the insurance seven minutes later following Gernhardt’s two diving stops off Thermal.

“We missed a couple of chances and they capitalized,” said Palacio, who is counting on Malone, senior Carlos Castro and junior Dillon Woods to provide offense this season. “We’ve got some new guys that’ll help us,” the coach added. “They just need to get used to the high school style of game.”

Unlike the Marines, who may be a year away from being playoff contenders, the Eagles are looking to make noise with a senior-led roster anchored by Quiroz, the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2015 who ranked among Nassau’s goal leaders with 12, and sweeper Che Fernandez, a four-year varsity starter.    

The teams meet again in the regular-season finale at Long Beach on Oct. 14 under the lights at 7 p.m.