Sports
West Hempstead Soccer Scores Two Big Wins
Varsity boys soccer team defeats Great Neck North and Floral Park to bring conference record to 2-0.
West Hempstead High School's varsity boys soccer team followed up Friday's big win over Great Neck North by defeating Floral Park Monday.
The Rams went into the weekend on a high note, after beating Great Neck North, 1-0, in a game that was decided on a penalty kick late in the second half.
Junior sweeper Marco Flores directed the shot past the Blazers' goalie to win the game for the Rams who are now 2-2 for the season, but 2-0 in their conference.
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"It was a big win for us today," Head Coach Chris Van Kovics told Patch after Friday's game. "We played a good team and it was a hard fought battle right up to the end of the game."
He said Flores along with defenders Nick Branker, Kyle Loveje and Alex Martinez were the heroes of the game.
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"Branker, Loveje and Martinez were huge for us in the backfield. They stopped a lot of Great Neck's offensive drives and got the ball back upfield to our offense."
It was a good win for a Rams team who lost their opening game to Clarke, 3-0, in an out of conference matchup the previous Saturday.
The Rams roster is full of juniors and seniors and that should give them plenty of experience in a tough Conference 6.
Junior forward Luis Escobar is back for his third season on varsity and he will be looked upon as the main guy to get the ball inside the opponents' net. Kareem and Cadeem Harris are back for their junior seasons and both will play at the mid-field and forward positions.
Rolando Martinez is back for his senior year and his brother, Alex, will be playing as a junior. Rolando will be relied upon to move the ball up the field in the middie spot and Alex will play a little bit at defense and in the midfielder position.
"We have a bunch of good veteran players back but we also have some new players and some players playing in completely new positions," said Van Kovics.
After Friday's big win the Rams traveled to Oyster Bay for a non-league matchup, which they lost 5-1 with Rolando Martinez scoring the lone goal off of an assist by Kareem Harris. However, they resumed their conference schedule Monday, defeating Floral Park, 3-2.
