Kearny wins local showdown at Red Bull, defeating Harrison, 5-1

Najarro’s 2 goals give Kards victory; Kearny girls also win

HARRISON – 

There’s something about playing at the state’s premier soccer palace Red Bull Arena that brings out the best in the Najarro family.

First, a year ago, it was Edgar Najarro who scored the go-ahead goal for Kearny High School in its showdown for soccer supremacy against neighboring rival Harrison, brilliantly chipping home a shot from 30 yards out to give the Kardinals a 3-1 victory.

Now, last Saturday, it was little brother John’s turn to shine at Red Bull Arena.

Najarro made a spectacular play five minutes into the second half to snap a 1-1 halftime tie, then added another goal on a rocket blast from about 35 yards out, spearheading a four-goal second half barrage and lifting the Kardinals to the lopsided 5-1 victory.

The victory pushed the Kardinals’ record this season to 9-0-1. The Kards are currently the No. 4-ranked team in the entire state.

The loss was the first this season for the Blue Tide, who dropped to 6-1 overall. Harrison entered play Saturday as the No. 7-ranked team in New Jersey.

After a spirited first half which saw the Kardinals grab an early lead on Matthew Neto’s goal in the 13th minute, then saw the Blue Tide tie the score with just five minutes remaining in the half on a header from Ney Moreno, Najarro took matters into his own hands with an absolutely brilliant play.

Najarro took a long pass from Neto a little before midfield, then simply took off down the sideline closest to the 3,000 or so fans in attendance to witness the annual doubleheader between the two rival schools.

Najarro carried the ball for about 20 yards until Blue Tide defender Omar Sowe tried to run him down – to no avail.

“I just used my speed to get by him,” Najarro said of Sowe. “I saw some open space and went for it.”

Najarro eluded Sowe, which left him to move in alone on Harrison net minder Christopher Crespo. Najarro then faked out Crespo, beating the keeper to the ball as well, then passed the ball forward to him self, caught up to it and touched it into the wide open goal for the go-ahead score.

“I didn’t think it was that exciting,” Najarro said. “It was a simple goal. It wasn’t anything complicated.”

Najarro just missed scoring again only a minute later, when he broke free and fired a blast that sailed over the crossbar. However, Najarro didn’t miss on his next opportunity.

Just three minutes later, Najarro secured a ball in the Harrison end and unleashed a rocket shot that Crespo never had a chance to stop, pushing the lead to 3-1.

“I just put it where he couldn’t get to it,” Najarro said.

The two goals in a threeminute span really deflated the Blue Tide’s chances. Harrison veteran head coach Mike Rusek, who once played at Kearny, thought that he should take the blame for the Kardinals’ explosion.

“Going into the half, I thought we had the momentum,” Rusek said. “So I wanted to attack them a little and take advantage of the momentum we had going for us. So we pushed it a little and that backfired. I wish there was a time out in soccer, because I could have used one there. Those two goals killed us. That sometimes happens in soccer and that’s my fault. We tried too hard to attack them and it just didn’t work out.”

Rusek replayed the gamedeciding goal in his mind.

“That’s the frustrating part,” Rusek said. “We’re trying to play soccer on our end and then two passes and the whole team gets caught off guard. It’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

The Kardinals were not done there. Just three minutes after Najarro’s second goal, Juan Zapata made a nice play by bouncing a shot off a Harrison defender in front of the net, making it 4-1.

Samuel Szeremeta put a capper on the afternoon with a goal with just five minutes left, as Kearny won for the third straight time against its neighboring rivals at Red Bull Arena.

“It means a lot to me,” said the sophomore Najarro, who now has 13 goals in 10 games this season. “I’ve been following this rivalry for a long time and I always wanted to get a chance to play in the game. It’s a fantastic rivalry in a fantastic stadium.”

Zapata, the senior who returned to play at Kearny High this fall after spending last year with the Players Development Academy, now has six goals on the season. With fellow senior Marcelo Matta, the Kardinals have a very lethal scoring team and have been averaging a little better than five goals per game this season.

“I think we made a statement here,” Zapata said. “We’re a good team. We play together and trust each other with the ball. We look for each other. No one is selfish on the team. We’re just putting it in the back of the net.”

“We’ve all been playing together for a long time, so it’s showing now,” Najarro said.

Needless to say, Kearny head coach Bill Galka is pleased at the way his team played Saturday – and has played all season.

“We are playing well, no question,” Galka said. “John’s first goal was really one that lifted everyone up. He has tremendous talent and speed. We try to get him isolated with his skill and ability. It’s a great rivalry with great soccer backgrounds. I’m just happy we had a chance to play well here at Red Bull Arena. I know it means a lot to the kids.”

Oscar Alvarado made seven saves in goal for the Kardinals.

Rusek knows that his young team will recover and be fine.

“We started four sophomores and three freshmen today,” said Rusek, who has had to go through his biggest rebuilding project in his 15- year coaching career. “I know that this is something they’ll all remember and build for the future. This game was not in the state tournament, so we can all pick up again and go into October in good shape.”

The Blue Tide wanted to do well dedicating the game to the memory of Harrison resident Jose Morillo, who tragically died Friday night after suffering a stroke.

“The worse loss for Harrison was losing Jose,” Rusek said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Kearny girls made it a clean sweep of the soccer smorgasbord at RBA, winning their showdown with Harrison by a final score of 7-0. Seven different Kardinal players each scored one goal. Isabel Fernandez had a goal and two assists, while Lily Durning, Amber Crispin and Bre Costa all had a goal and an assist. Alexis Castaneda, Savannah Iverson and Caitlin Mead were the other goal scorers for the Kardinals, who improved to 7-1 with the win. Tatiana Costa had 18 saves in goal for the Blue Tide, who fell to 0-4-1 on the season with the setback.

It could very well be that all four teams might see each other again in the Hudson County Tournament next month.