After an 0-5 start, the Riverhead boys soccer team looked to be heading toward the direction of their losing predecessors. Fast forward two weeks and what we have is an entirely different team with an entirely different attitude.
Before the Blue Waves faced Centereach on Sept. 30, coach Lamine Traore called a team meeting. He knew the team was better than the product he saw out there on game day.
“We showed them that this is not where we are supposed to be,” Traore said. “I had to put it in their head that they can compete with anyone in this league.”
Because without a win, they truly believed that they couldn’t.
Centereach ended up being Riverhead’s first victory of the season. And the Blue Waves won in convincing fashion, 4-0. The momentum carried over to the next game as the Blue Waves won again, this time over West Islip by the score of 3-1.
“It was kind of a wake up call,” Traore said.
Though Centereach and West Islip are the weaker teams in the league, combining for a record of 1-18, the wins were just what Riverhead needed. Just knowing they could win did wonders for the confidence and chemistry forward but their next match would be the true challenge.
They faced off against undefeated Smithtown West on Friday, who had a record of 9-0-0 coming into the match.
Traore described the game like “a championship game.”
“The boys gave it everything they had,” he said.
Freshman forward Karol Birycki subbed into the game in the second half and scored the Blue Waves sole goal as they ruined Smithtown West’s perfect run finishing in a tie, 1-1.
“He gets his playing time,” Traore said of Karol. “He works hard.”
“But anyone can play out there,” he continued. “Nobody is safe. If you play hard you will get your spot and chance to play.”
Just to prove that Smithtown West wasn’t a fluke, the Blue Waves defeated second place North Babylon 2-1 on Tuesday, making it four consecutive games without a loss.
Denis Escalante and Jayson Set scored the goals. Neither Escalante nor Set were starters in the beginning of the season, they worked their way into the lineup and plan to stay there.
“The team is really coming together,” Traore said. “The level of communication is really picking up. You can even see it at practice; we play physical and communicate so well.”
Playoffs doesn’t seem like a distant thought anymore though Traore reiterates that he wants to take it “one game at a time.”
The Blue Waves now own a record of 3-5-1. Riverhead plays at Newfield Thursday as they seek revenge after falling 4-0 to them early in the season.
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