Boys Soccer

October 29, 2009

Third time's the charm for Kards

Jimmy Doran Kearny

Jimmy Doran made five saves to give Kearny a 1-0 victory over Dickinson.

Click Here for more photos from Dickinson vs Kearny.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

HARRISON – Kearny has accomplished a lot during their first season in an all-Hudson County league, winning 13 games and earning the top spot in the Hudson County Tournament. But one thing the Kardinals had yet to do was figure out how to stop Dickinson’s high-powered offense.

Yesterday, in the third meeting between the two schools, Kearny found a way to shut down the Rams as they posted a 1-0 victory in the semifinals of the Hudson County Tournament in Harrison.

“The defense was a lot better,” Kardinals goalie Jimmy Doran said. “The past two games we let up nine goals and that’s pretty hard on a defense. Today we picked it up and kept one of the hottest scorers (Maxi Garcia) off the scoreboard.”

With Monday’s 5-2 loss to Dickinson (14-6) still fresh in their minds, Kearny (14-3) came up with the strong defensive performance and were able to frustrate the dynamic duo of Garcia and Terrol Ishmael. Garcia and Ishmael had combined for nine goals against the Kardinals in the regular season.

“We marked (Ishmael) and (Garcia) very closely,” Kearny coach Billy Galka said. “It’s not hard to figure out where they’re dangerous players are. That was a key for us to keep those guys at bay.”

“We just tried to keep (Garcia) on the outside because once he gets his burst to the inside, then he’s off and he’s very hard to catch because he’s a very fast person,” Doran said.

That strategy worked to perfection as the Rams failed to get a shot on goal in the second half of play.

“Our defense just stepped it up in the second half,” Doran said. “They wouldn’t even let me get the ball. They cleared everything out.”

It marked a contrast from the opening half when Dickinson had multiple scoring chances, but were turned away each time by Kearny goalie Jimmy Doran.

Doran, who left Monday’s contest early with a knee injury, made seven saves in the opening half. He stopped a shot from Garcia in the opening minutes of the match then later in the half turned away a pair of shots from Ishmael. Doran capped off the first half with a save off a Darwin Cruz corner kick in the 38th minute.

“(Doran) runs the game well,” Galka said. “He organizes everything from back there and he’s a good shot blocker.”

The Kardinals finally broke through on the offensive end in the game’s 49th minute when Leonides Chemin won a loose ball from Dickinson goalie Ariel Canales and delivered what would be the lone goal of the game.

“It was a rebound off my shot and luckily Leo was there,” said Eddie Silva, who assisted on the goal. “It was nice and easy.”

Canales made five saves for the Rams in defeat.

With the victory, the Kardinals will face long-time rival Harison for the Hudson County Championship on Saturday afternoon in Kearny.

Darwin Cruz Dickinson

Darwin Cruz had two shots in the first half, but him and the Rams were shut out.

 
1st
2nd
Total
Dickinson (14-6)
0
0
0
Kearny (14-3)
0
1
1
 
K: Leonides Chemin (Eddie Silva) 49th minute
 

Goalies: D: Ariel Canales (3 saves); K: Jimmy Doran (5 saves).