Valley Stream Central boys soccer's Liam Rios scores two penalties to beat Massapequa
Liam Rios (No. 10) of host Valley Stream Central celebrates after his second goal on his second penalty kick against Massapequa during a Nassau non-conference boys soccer game on Friday. Credit: David Meisenholder
Now here’s something you don’t see every day in high school boys soccer.
Liam Rios lined up 12 yards from the goal to take a penalty kick in the first half for Valley Stream Central. And soon, the senior midfielder lined up to take another.
Two PKs for the same team in just two minutes and 27 seconds. Goal and goal.
“Honestly, it’s one of a kind,” Rios said.
Or at least not many of a kind.
“Very rarely do you see one of those things,” Eagles coach Billy Miller said.
Rios gave them a 2-1 Nassau Conference AAA win over Massapequa on Friday at Valley Stream Memorial Junior High.
“I don’t want to say we got lucky, but well deserved,” Rios said. “So I just had to capitalize on that.
“It showed with the group’s effort. And I’m really happy for the win.”
The Eagles are back in Class AAA after a season in AA, a solid 5-4-7 season. They were edged 3-2 by East Meadow in Wednesday’s opener. Massapequa, a 2-1 winner over Baldwin in its opener Wednesday, went 6-6-4 in 2024 and was a county semifinalist.
“Massapequa is a great team,” Miller said. “Every team we play in our conference, they’re all great schools, great soccer programs. . . . We obviously have a goal of trying to win it all, but it just shows that we can compete with everybody.”
It surely helps that Rios has joined their side.
“He’s tremendous,” Miller said. “Obviously, you could see his skill. . . . It’s also his leadership both on and off the field.”
This is Rios’ first high school season after competing for a club team, Gottschee. He said he wasn’t permitted to also play for VSC. Now he plays for Long Island Soccer Club and can play for the Eagles.
“I wanted to represent my high school,” Rios said, “and honestly, it feels great.”
His PKs came after calls for a push in the back in the box.
Rios beat goalkeeper Phil Fiorentino with 8:08 left until halftime and again with 5:41 remaining, aiming left both times.
That allowed VSC to overcome Matteo Fenoaltea’s goal 1:06 in off a Jeremy Velez corner kick.
“I’m disappointed for that three-minute span they scored both goals, because if you don’t give them two goals, who knows what happens,” Massapequa coach Matt Burke said. “Disappointing result. . . . We lost our cool a little bit there. We’ll get better.”
