When the Hudson County girls’ soccer tournament was formulated eight years ago, including perennial power Kearny in the mix, the organizers had to know it was going to be tough beating the Kardinals. After all, Kearny isn’t called “Soccertown, USA” for nothing.
But no one in their wildest dreams could have ever imagined the Kardinals dominating the county tournament the way that they have.
Last week, the Kards continued their dominant ways, defeating Bayonne, 2-0, to capture their eighth straight Hudson County Tournament championship at Harrison High School.
“It’s pretty special,” said Kearny head coach Vin Almeida. “It’s special because the girls could remain focused trying to win their eighth in a row. I told the girls that this was something that they would remember forever.”
The Kardinals have four seniors who had the distinction of winning county championships in all four years of high school _ namely Isabel Fernandez, Bre Costa, Sydney Pace and team leader Lily Durning.
“It just shows the focus and the quality of the seniors,” Almeida said. “They stayed focused on the task at hand. We’ve had times where we’ve fallen behind. It easily could have led to fingers being pointed, but there’s never been frustration and that’s nice.”
The Kardinals had to show their patience in beating Bayonne once again in the county title game.
The Kards (16-4) broke a scoreless tie when freshman Skyler Matusz knocked home a goal in the second half. They then sealed their fate as county champs when Costa scored off a pretty pass from Gianna Hoch with seven minutes remaining in regulation.
“It never gets tiring,” Almeida said. “At least, it hasn’t.”
Almeida sang the praises of do-everything forward Durning.
“She’s done a fantastic job for us,” said Almeida, having recently returned from a trip to Europe. “Not just her communications kills as a leader, but when she works as hard as she can,” Almeida said.
Fellow seniors Victoria Van Riper and Merrin Keim played huge roles in the team’s success.
The Kards were able to welcome back standout goalie Megan McClelland recently, after she spent all of September and most of October with commitments playing for Team USA’s 17-and-under national team, getting ready for the World Cup.
“Megan came right back and she had to adjust to normal life,” Almeida said. “She went right back in there and got the clean sheet (the shutout). Freshman Catherine (Canaley) did a nice job while Meg was away.”
Pace had to take a back seat, moving from the front line to defense this year.
“Sydney understood her role with the team,” Almeida said. “She’s done a great job with the backline and has made us that much stronger.”
What’s amazing is that the Kardinals don’t have a 20-goal scorer this year, like they had last year with Observer Female Athlete of the Year Amber Crispin.
Durning has 18 goals and Fernandez has found the net 15 times.
Almeida likes the players he has returning, like junior goalkeeper McClelland, juniors Hoch and Caitlin Mead and Matusz, who has a ton of potential.
“She could be the next one,” Almeida said. “She’s that good.”
The Kardinals were slated to face Morristown in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group IV tourney Tuesday afternoon. The Kards are the No. 5 seed in that bracket.
“We have a solid group of kids who work hard for each other and make things happen,” Almeida said.
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Jim Hague | Observer Sports Writer
Sports Writer Jim Hague was with The Observer for 20+ years — and his name is one of the most recognizable in all of sports journalism. The St. Peter’s Prep and Marquette alum kicked off his journalism career post Marquette at the Daily Record, where he remained until 1985. Following shorts stints at two other newspapers, in September 1986, he joined the now-closed Hudson Dispatch, where he remained until 1991, when its doors were finally shut.
It was during his tenure at The Dispatch that Hague’s name and reputation as one of country’s hardest-working sports reporters grew. He won several New Jersey Press Association and North Jersey Press Club Awards in that timeframe.
In 1991, he became a columnist for The Hudson Reporter chain of newspapers — and he remains with them to this day.
In addition to his work at The Observer and The Hudson Reporter, Hague is also an Associated Press stringer, where he covers Seton Hall University men’s basketball, New York Red Bulls soccer and occasionally, New Jersey Devils hockey.
He’s also doing work at The Morristown Daily Record, the very newspaper where his journalism career began.
During his career, he also worked for Dorf Feature Services, which provided material for the Star-Ledger. While there, he covered the New York Knicks and the New Jersey Nets.
Hague is also known for his announcing work — and he’s done PA work for Rutgers Newark and NJIT.
Hague is the author of the book “Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderella Man.”