For head coach Pedro Martinez and his North Arlington boys soccer team, history is repeating itself. For the second year in a row, the Vikings struggled in September, only to embark on a significant turnaround in October.
After 2-7 in September, North Arlington has flipped the script on its season, going 6-1 to return to .500. The last three of those wins came in the Bergen Invitation Tournament over Pascack Hills, Pascack Valley and Elmwood Park.
The hot streak not only has the Vikings in the BIT semifinals at Demarest on Saturday, but in prime position to earn a high seed and make a deep run in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 tournament.
Several of these players experienced a similar turnaround last year when North Arlington started 1-4, only to finish with 13 wins and a trip to the North 2, Group 1 final.
“There’s just something about this team that when October hits, we start to get going,” Martinez said. “Obviously when you’re struggling, emotions get the best of you. But our group stuck together and understood that we went through this last year. We had a terrible September last year and had a great October into November.”
The goalkeeper spot has largely been shared by senior Jalal Qizilbash and sophomore Jakob Gwisczc.
“They’re both making the best of their opportunities out on the field and they both have strong qualities that during certain games helps us out a little bit more,” Martinez said. “The best thing about it is that they support each other and they find it a good challenge of making each other better day in and day out.”
The backline has also seen several adjustments on the fly, especially after center back Nicholas Keoghan was lost for the season due to injury.
Hugo Rojas, who is tied for second on the team in points (three goals, five assists), has moved back from the midfield to help fill the void left by Keoghan. Rojas, a senior, teams up with senior Aidan Maleski at center back with senior Sebastian Herrera as the right outside back and Justin Bunnell as the left outside back. Adam Janosek and Melvin Lopez also see time in the back as reserves.
Sophomore Julien Santos is the holding midfielder and someone who has impressed with his versatility and potential.
“We put a lot of high expectations on Julien,” said Martinez about Santos, who played more center midfield last year. “He’s grown a lot in the past five, six weeks. He’s gotten a lot of experience, a lot of time under his belt. He’s doing a great job for us defensively and looking for him to get forward a little bit more.”
Another sophomore, Felix Medina, has replaced Santos at one center midfield spot alongside senior Patrick Sullivan, who has four goals and three assists after missing all of last year due to injury.
Junior Jonathan Miranda and senior Alex Rodriguez start on the outside of the Vikings’ 4-5-1 formation.
Juan Moya, Dylan Santos and Mohammed Cheikhali all see time in the midfield as well.
Up top is one of the area’s best offensive talents in senior Nico Stanzione. Stanzione, who recently became North Arlington’s career scoring leader, has 21 goals on the season.
“Nico’s a grinder. He literally gets involved in every attacking play,” Martinez said. “He creates his own chances by pressuring the defenses, stealing the ball, picking the ball, taking shots”
Before playing its Bergen Invitational semifinal on Saturday, North Arlington has a pair of critical division matchups as it went to Lyndhurst on Monday, Oct. 21 and will host Rutherford on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
North Arlington enters the Lyndhurst game third in the section in power points so a strong week could potentially set up the Vikings to have multiple home state playoff games.
“We want to make a statement (in these tournaments). We understand the potential we have,” Martinez said. “(Earlier this season) I said our best soccer is yet to come and I hold firm to that because our best soccer still, it’s coming. We’ playing our best soccer right now and when we see it on the pitch, it looks lovely.”
——–
The other semifinal of the Bergen Invitational Tournament will feature Lyndhurst at home against Bergenfield. The Golden Bears, after being snubbed from the main Bergen County Tournament, defeated Northern Highlands in the first round and followed it up with victories at Leonia and Cliffside Park.
The Bergen Invitational Tournament final is set for Saturday, Nov. 2 at the higher seed.
Learn more about the writer ...
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.)