Glen Cove frequents win column

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After starting the season with five consecutive draws on the boys’ soccer pitch, the Glen Cove Big Red (3-1-3 Conference A2) has found its way back into the win column, winning four of its last six and only dropping one league matchup.

The Big Red snapped its streak of ties with a 2-0 win over Division on Oct. 18. Fred Aguirre and Elvin Rosado both netted a goal for Glen Cove, as Michael Battle and Christian Yanes added assists. Goalkeeper Misael Mejia made six saves in the shutout.

Glen Cove then followed up the Division victory with a 3-0 win on the road against Carey where the little things started to come together for the Big Red. “We capitalized on our opportunities that day,” Glen Cove coach Brian Smith said. “We were winning 50/50 balls and our defense, which has been executing well this season, played exceptional in that game. Our goalkeeper also made a very important save when the game was still tied at zero.”

Kebin Guzman was the keeper against Carey, and made 3 saves in the shutout. Senior Nikolas Vidal collected one goal and one assist, while Matthew Salinas netted two and Brayan Velasquez added an assist as well.

Glen Cove went on to complete its three-game win streak with a 5-2 win over Great Neck North, before dropping a game to Jericho. The Big Red, however, got right back on track with a 5-0 win in a nonleague matchup with Bethpage where Salinas and Chrystian Hernandez both scored two goals and added an assist in the win. Christian Yanes added three assists and Nikolas Vidal scored a goal.

Maybe Glen Cove’s most impressive result thus far this season, though, ended in a 1-1 draw. On Oct. 10, Glen Cove hosted Conference A1 undefeated perennial powerhouse Garden City for a nonleague matchup.

“We were highly effective against a team that is highly seeded in the entire state,” Smith said. “We were able to put things into use in this game that were drastic points of emphasis for us. I would think that this was a very scary game for them.”

Vidal scored Glen Cove’s lone goal in the first half, before Garden City’s Andrew Schneider matched Vidal in the second half. Glen Cove held a 1-0 lead against the undefeated Garden City going into halftime, and had the powerhouse on its heels for a bit.

“They have an absolutely amazing keeper who made a diving save across the goal, it was unbelievable,” Smith said. “But the game was an affirmation that training hard in practice really does work out for us.”

Glen Cove’s large senior class with key varsity experience will host Roslyn on Oct. 15 and play Roosevelt on the road on Oct. 17. The Big Red will be focusing on a few late season adjustments in practice before this year’s playoffs seeding is released.

“Our kids really cannot wait to represent our school and community in the playoffs,” Smith said. “They crave those highly stressful moments where the community comes out strong to support us.”