At just 5-foot-7 and 135 pounds it might be easy to overlook Nico Stanzione on the pitch due to his size. But on the hierarchy of North Arlington goal scorers, Stanzione now stands tall above the rest.
On Wednesday, Stanzione became the Vikings’ career scoring leader when he scored a first half goal in a win over Newark Collegiate. Two days later, Stanzione added to his record when he scored both goals in North Arlington’s 2-0 statement victory at Hackensack.
Stanzione’s record breaking performance makes him The Observer Athlete of the Week.
Stanzione, who broke the mark previously set by Cristiano Neves in 2015, now has 60 career goals and counting.
“It meant a lot,” Stanzione said about the record. “My teammates were pushing me, my family pushing me, everyone was excited. For me, it meant a lot. It meant a lot to me and it meant a lot to my family and my friends.
“I felt so relieved. It was just great to celebrate with my teammates there. I ran right over to them because I knew everybody was happy for me at that moment. I felt really happy, really relieved, it was great.”
A North Arlington teammate made a long pass over the top to Stanzione who had made a run from midfield. From there, Stanzione, in a 1v1 with a defender, got around him, took a couple dribbled and placed a shot into the bottom right corner of the net for the record breaking goal.
It was the type of goal that has been typical of Stanzione’s career at North Arlington as he’s made up for his lack of size with quickness.
“I think what I lack in height I make up for in speed,” said Stanzione. “It’s better for me to be fast and quick. I think I’m just quick and my ability on and off the ball makes it hard for defenders to defend me.”
What has impressed Stanzione’s coaches is that he’s not just solely a finisher in the upper third for the Vikings, but rather a complete forward, who can play off the ball and also create scoring chances for his teammates.
“He likes to find the ball and try to create opportunities for his other teammates,” North Arlington head coach Pedro Martinez said. “So when he’s being double teamed, like he has most of the season, he’s dragging two defenders with him and it opens space for other players.”
“I think I contribute in different ways,” Stanzione said. “We all have our different abilities to score and put away shots. My goal is to score a lot, but it’s also for my teammates to score.”
Stanzione’s offensive talents became known to Martinez back when the latter was the head coach at division rival Hasbrouck Heights.
“You could tell he was going to be a good player. You could see he was a nice player who was strong and got into the attack,” said Martinez. “As a freshman, he got the winning goal, against us to beat us, 1-0. I also remember him scoring two goals against us as a sophomore.
“When I came over to North Arlington and saw him as a junior, we already knew that we had something to work with there.”
Stanzione scored six goals as a freshman called up to varsity in the middle of the season. His breakout season came the next year as a sophomore with 18 goals and 10 assists. Stanzione scored a career-high 23 goals to go with six assists last year as a junior.
This season has seen Stanzione get 13 goals with two assists. Stanzione has had at least one point in all, but one of the Vikings’ contests this year.
Stanzione looks to add to his record and North Arlington hopes to continue its hot play with a game at Harrison on Monday, Oct. 7, followed by an Oct. 9 matchup with Secaucus before the start of the Bergen County Tournament.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)