It has been a successful fall sports season for the Mineola Mustangs as both the girls volleyball and soccer team won their respective conferences; the boys soccer team clinched a playoff berth and, prior to a Friday night game against Cold Spring Harbor, the football team stood on the brink of another playoff berth.

The Mineola Mustangs volleyball team, under the leadership of first year coach Diana Nick, locked up the Conference BII championship with a win on Monday, Oct. 25 against Hewlett High School in three straight games with an outstanding team effort by senior captains Juliet Barber and Michele Guido.

The Mustangs volleyball team finished the regular season with a 13-2 record. From the very first match, a three-game win over Floral Park, a game in which Nicole Lapin had 47 assists and Guido had nine kills, the Mustangs never looked back.

Mineola's only two losses of the season were a five-game match against Seaford and a five-game match against North Shore that included a 26-24 final match.

The Mustangs showed great resiliency after losses this season. After the loss against North Shore, the Mustangs rattled off nine straight wins and even avenged the loss later in the year with a four-game win over North Shore in a game in which Guido had 14 kills while Kaitlyn O'Neal had nine.

Following the five-game loss to Seaford, the Mustangs defeated Clarke in four gams as Liz Campbell had 15 kills and O'Neal had 30 service points.

For the conference champions Mustangs, it was on to the playoffs as the team took on Floral Park once again. Like the match earlier this year, the Mustangs as the seventh seed defeated Floral Park, the 10th seed, in three games (25-15, 25-23, 25-17) in a match that included a big second game comeback. Lapin notched 24 assists in the win.

As of press time, the Mustangs were scheduled to play on Saturday against West Hempstead.

The Mineola Mustangs volleyball team isn't Mineola's only conference champion. The girls soccer team won Conference VII with a 10-1-1 record. The Mustangs wrapped up the conference with a 1-0 win against Roslyn on Monday, Oct. 25. Katie Carter scored the goal for the Mustangs, who were scheduled to open their playoff schedule on Saturday at Island Trees.

The Mustangs, under the leadership of coach Christine Gayson, had a dream season. The returning players mixed with newcomers added the perfect mix for the conference champs.

The Mineola boys soccer team, coached by Paul Pereira, earned a playoff berth in second place with a 7-2-2 conference record and 10-3-2 record overall.

The second half of the season went very much like the first half, much to the delight of the team. The Mustangs were 4-1-1 in Conference IV (7-2-1 overall) at the midway point of the season, good enough for a tie for second place.

With sophomore sensation Gustavo Dias still out with a bout of mononucleosis and a thin bench short on varsity experience, a playoff spot was looking more and more elusive in the very competitive conference where two teams of the seven advance to the Nassau County playoffs.

The Mustangs suffered their worst league loss of the season at the hands of Oyster Bay by a score of 4-1, only days after having beaten the Baymen 3-2. However, the team rebounded by shutting out visiting Lynbrook for the second time this year 3-0 on two goals by sophomore midfielder Michael Marques and senior exchange student Mattheus Carvalho, who added his first of the season.

One of the highlights of the season came when the Mustangs traveled to Westbury attempting to derail the Dragons' perfect season. After falling behind 2-0 at the half, Mineola rallied to tie the score at two with two second half goals in a driving rainstorm.

Once again, the duo of Marques and Carvalho earned the Mustangs a hard fought point. It was the first time all season that Westbury conceded a point.

The team's next game would prove to be even more crucial. The Mustangs faced a Plainedge team that Mineola had tied in their first meeting and a team which was tied for second place.

Mineola stunned the visiting Red Devils with a 5-0 command performance as Marques tallied his first hat trick of the season, bringing his season total to 15 goals.

Freshman Raoney Mello and junior Felipe Rodrigues closed out the score sheet and earned sophomore Claudio DeMatos his fifth shutout of the season.

As the season was winding down, the playoff picture was still uncertain. The Mustangs had to win their remaining two games to guarantee a playoff spot for the fourth time in the last six years.

With Dias back and a healthy Mustangs team clicking on all cylinders, they defeated Locust Valley 6-1. This time, it was junior Oswaldo Hernandez' turn to tally a hat trick, his first, with a third goal coming off a picture perfect bicycle kick from 18 yards out. Dias added two goals of his own and Marques closed out the scoring.

The playoff situation came down to the last game of the season with Valley Stream North. After falling behind 1-0 in the first half, the Mustangs responded with four unanswered goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half to clinch a spot in the Nassau County playoffs for the fourth time in the last six years. Dias and Marques tallied two goals apiece to remain tied for the team lead with 18 each.

The Mustangs were scheduled to play Sunday at Glen Cove in their first playoff game.