Mineola High School celebrated a unique feat in its sports history when both the Boys and Girls soccer squads qualified for the County playoffs in the same year after being named 2006 Conference Champions. The girls are Conference VII Co-Champions with an astonishing 11-2-1 record. The boys begin defense of their 2005 Long Island Class A Championship after topping Conference ABC-I with an 8-2-2 showing (10-3-3 overall). The Mustang Men ended the season ranked second in Nassau County in both the coaches and Newsday polls and opened the playoffs with a home game versus the Roosevelt Roughriders as their section's No. 1 seed. The Lady Mustangs meet the second ranked Garden City Trojans on the road as the No. 15 seed. The two teams begin the playoffs at opposite ends of the spectrum but their objectives are identical - go as far as their talents may take them. Adding pride to performance, girls coach Katherine Hock and boys coach Paul Pereira are both Mustang soccer alumni.

Coach Pereira led his boys through a masterful season in the deepest and most competitive conference on Long Island. Losing three and tying two through their first seven contests, the Mustangs looked rusty. But once October began, the situation began to change. The Mustangs ripped off five consecutive wins and a tie. Three wins in the final week generated an undefeated month. Just like he planned, Pereira has Mineola peaking just in time for the post season.

The girls were hot from the start as they opened the fall campaign with three victories including a double overtime thriller against Roslyn that would ultimately decide the Conference championship. A Locust Valley loss and Great Neck North tie paused success before a five-win series. The Bulldogs got revenge in the rematch before the young ladies closed the schedule with victories to make amends for the midseason blemishes. With Roslyn receiving the final playoff seed, county administrators granted the Mustangs the tie-breaker for the Conference VII championship.

The Lady Mustangs put together their winning season with balance and defense. Fifteen different players hit the back of the net led by Katie Carter (10 goals), Liz Furuya (8) and Maryann Sanderleaf (6). Career two-goal games were notched by Kim Stillwell and Cristina Peralta while Mary Phelan tallied a three-game scoring streak and Stephanie Klein opened and closed the season with scores. Melissa Pastoressa was the key cog in the midfield and led the team in assists. Alesa Kolenovic gave up only 5 goals on the season while posting 9 shutouts in her first season as varsity goalkeeper but was immensely aided by sweeper Emily Glenn who single-handedly kept the team alive in many tough defensive situations.

The boys domination was driven by star power and cemented by its role players. All-New York State striker Gustavo Dias missed the first few games but was the season's leading goal scorer (13) compiling 57 career goals. Michael Marques and Nuno Rodriques were mirror images of one another with seven goals each and a combined 15 assists. John Valente had a double dip against Wheatley while Lucas Natel and Jameson Canning scored in their final regular season and non-league matches, respectively. Raoney Mello, Shawn Wachter, Anthony Morais and Helder Cancelhinha made crucial contributions throughout the year. Junior Carlos Barros stepped in to assume the keeper slot earning six shutouts. Claudio DeMatos added another pair of shutouts as his partner.

Both teams enter the playoffs with managed expectations. For the Girls team, it has been a banner season with playoff wins a bonus. The boys, however, have something more to prove. Last year's advancement came as a surprise to outsiders while this year the Mustangs become the hunted. The county playoffs are a prelude to bigger things. A conference title and premier seed is only the first step in what hopes to be a long bus ride to the State Tournament in Oneonta.