The NJSIAA boys soccer state tournament got underway last week and through the first two rounds of play a familiar storyline has emerged locally.
Not only are Harrison and Kearny both on to the semifinals in their respective sections, both longtime state powers have done it in dominant fashion.
The Kardinals, seeded second in North 1, Group 4, soundly defeated North Bergen, 5-0, in the first round, then made quick work of Morristown in the quarterfinals, 6-1.
Meanwhile, in North 2, Group 2, the Blue Tide, seeded third, thumped Mendham, 6-1, in the first round, then got some revenge in the quarterfinals when it scored four times in the second half to defeat a Lyndhurst team that ended Harrison’s season early a year ago, 5-0.
For Harrison head coach Mike Rusek, the two lopsided results were a high-water mark for a team that has not always played as consistently as its coach would have liked.
“I think we’ve been waiting all season for it,” Rusek said about his now 16-5-2 Blue Tide. “It’s been quite a roller coaster ride in September and October, but we tell them the only month you have to be undefeated in is November.”
Kearny coach Scott Millar didn’t have quite the same level of concern for his team heading into the postseason. Currently ranked No. 8 in the state with a record of 19-3, Millar has been pleased with the consistency, especially on the offensive end, the Kardinals have shown all year.
“We’ve really liked the way we’ve played all year,” said Millar. “Even in the games that we’ve dropped, we’ve certainly still created a great number of chances. Some nights they just don’t go in. Recently they’ve been going in and the play hasn’t changed for us.”
For Kearny, that meant scoring goals in bunches and from multiple players. The quarterfinal saw the Kardinals strike for two goals within the first 10 minutes before Morristown had even brought the ball across the midfield.
In each game, four different Kearny players recorded a goal. Adryel Garcia Ferreria led the way with two goals in the first round and it was Gabe Gomez with two in the quarterfinals. In total, seven different Kardinals have scored a goal in the state tournament, led by Gomez’s three.
Gomez’s 11 goals on the season lead a balanced effort as seven players have six or more for the year.
“That’s certainly a great luxury that we have is that any one of our players, including guys that come off the bench, have really shown well at this time of the year,” Millar said. “It’s nice to not have to rely on one player or two players to get goals. The team creates an awful lot of chances and we’ve been very fortunate with the amount of players that have had great opportunities.”
It’s been an identical formula for success at Harrison. Seven different Blue Tide have scored at least one goal in the two victories, led by Frank Barrera’s three goals.
Barrera, a senior who was limited by injury late in the regular season, scored twice in the win over Mendham. Against Lyndhurst, it was Christian Barrios who struck for two goals in the victory.
Barrios and Cristian Carranza are two players who have stepped up to play bigger roles since second leading scorer Pedro Barreto Reis went down with a knee injury and with Barrera, the team’s leading scorer, still limited. Star holding midfielder Yusufu Jaite has also come up more often in the attack, a role he became quite familiar with in the past.
“Yusef has had a tremendous season,” said Rusek of his senior, who has five goals and 10 assists. “We moved him back from forward to defensive center midfielder and he’s really held this whole team together at times on his shoulders.”
Both teams have daunting semifinal matchups. Harrison, which has been undefeated at home this year, will have to travel to Madison on Tuesday afternoon and face a Dodgers team that is 19-1 with the only loss coming in the Morris County Tournament final to nationally-ranked Delbarton.
A few hours later, Kearny will host a red-hot Clifton team in a rematch of last year’s North 1, Group 4 final that the Kardinals won in overtime. Clifton (16-2-2), the reigning Passaic County champions, has won 11 games in a row.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.