The county boys and girls soccer tournaments are under way and by and large it was a success beginning for The Observer area teams.
The most dramatic of the early tournament games came on Friday night at Red Bull Arena where Harrison got a golden goal from Kiandry Aban to give the Blue Tide a 4-3 overtime victory over NJIC rival Secaucus in the Hudson County Tournament quarterfinals.
Aban’s goal was the second of the night for Harrison, which avenged a Sept. 16 loss to Secaucus. Yusufu Jaite and Christian Barrios also scored goals for the Blue Tide, which have now won seven consecutive games.
Two days earlier, in far less dramatic fashion, Harrison, seeded fifth, steamrolled past McNair Academic, 9-0, in the first round.
Next up for Harrison is a semifinal date on Saturday with top-seeded and defending champion St. Peter’s Prep, who is currently ranked No. 4 in the state by NJ.com.
On the bottom half of the bracket, second-seeded Kearny got two goals from Jeckson Rivera and a goal and two assists from Gerard Angel Bocanegra in a 4-0 quarterfinal victory over Weehawken on Saturday.
The red hot Kardinals, now ranked No. 3 in the state after a recent 2-0 win over St. Peter’s Prep, will host third-seeded Memorial in the semifinals.
Saturday’s winners will square off for the title on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Red Bull Arena. While a third meeting between HCIAL American Division Co-Champs Kearny and St. Peter’s Prep is expected, there are no sure things come tournament time and the Blue Tide are playing their best soccer of the season.
In Essex County, Nutley, seeded 17th, blew out 32nd-seeded Newark Collegiate in the first preliminary round, 6-0, with six different Maroon Raiders scoring a goal in the win. The victory sends Nutley to the second preliminary round against an Irvington team, which defeated the Raiders 3-1, on Sept. 26. The winner will face national power St. Benedict’s in the first round on Thursday.
Fellow locals Belleville and Bloomfield will also be in action on Tuesday after earning byes through the first preliminary round. Belleville, seeded 14th, will face 19th-seeded Cedar Grove with the winner going to third-seeded West Orange. Bloomfield, seeded 12th, hosts Newark Tech with the winner facing fifth-seeded Newark East Side.
In Bergen County, Lyndhurst, which was snubbed out of the regular Bergen County Tournament, opened up play in the Bergen Invitational Tournament with a 2-0 victory over Northern Highlands on Sunday. Maksym Dmochowski, back from injury, made six saves to earn the shutout for the Golden Bears (10-5.. Next up for Lyndhurst is a Wednesday second round game at Leonia, who grabbed the final spot in the Bergen County Tournament.
Also, in the BIT, North Arlington continued its mid-season surge with a 1-0 double overtime win over Pascack Hills. The Vikings will face Dwight-Morrow in the next round on Wednesday.
On the girls side, Lyndhurst delivered the biggest local upset of the weekend when the Bears, seeded 21st, blanked 12th-seeded Hasbrouck Heights, 2-0 in the first round of the Bergen County Tournament. Nikalena Iacono scored two second half goals and Kieran Meehan made five saves for the shutout. Lyndhurst will seek its second straight upset on Wednesday when it goes to fifth-seeded Immaculate Heart.
North Arlington’s Bergen County Tournament run ended in the first round when the 18th-seeded Vikings fell 2-1 to 15th-seeded Holy Angels. North Arlington now moves to the Bergen County Invitational where it will host the Becton-Midland Park winner on Thursday.
In Hudson County, Kearny began its quest for a 16th consecutive county title on Saturday with a 6-0 defeat of Union City in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Monmouth commit Keala Cicchino had three goals and an assist, while Siena commit Olivia Covello added a goal and an assist.
Next up is a Saturday semifinals matchup with a Secaucus team coached by longtime Kearny softball coach Jim Pickel.
Harrison’s tournament run is over, but not before making a bit of history. The Blue Tide’s 7-1 victory over Memorial on Oct. 8 sent Harrison to the HCT quarterfinals for the first time since 2016. Harrison, however, saw the script flipped on Saturday when it fell 8-0 to top-seeded Bayonne in the quarterfinals.
Barring a stunning upset, Kearny and Bayonne are on a collision course to once again play for the title on Oct. 24 at Red Bull Arena.
The Essex County Tournament begins on Tuesday with a rivalry matchup between 16th-seeded Nutley and 17th-seeded Belleville in the preliminary round. The Raiders won the regular season matchup 5-1, but will need to beat their rival again to earn a crack at top-seeded Mount St. Dominic, ranked No. 8 in the state, in Thursday’s first round.
Bloomfield, seeded 14th, plays Newark Tech in the preliminary round on Tuesday, with the winner going to Montclair on Thursday.
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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.)