October 26, 2010
Kearny back in finals
Kearny celebrates Danny Vieceli's overtime goal to defeat St. Peter's Prep.
Click Here for more photos from Kearny vs St. Peter's Prep.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
JERSEY CITY – For Kearny’s Danny Vieceli, making a mistake on the soccer field has never paid off like this.
Vieceli’s free kick in the second minute of overtime from the right of the box, which was meant to be a cross to a teammate, instead struck the far post and in to give the Kardinals a 3-2 victory over St. Peter’s Prep in the semifinals of the Hudson County Tournament at Caven Point.
“We got the free kick and I didn’t really mean to do it,” Vieceli said. “It just went far post and in.”
“He’s trying to whip the ball in behind the defense to a spot,” Kearny head coach Bill Galka said. “If he shot it, we would probably say ‘what are you shooting that for?’ But when it goes in, in a game like that, you don’t care.”
Vieceli’s goal in the 82nd minute capped off a wild contest between two of the county’s top teams.
Trailing for most of the contest, the top-seeded Kardinals (14-2-1) took the lead with two goals in a span of seven minutes midway through the second half. Almine Zaouia tied to game at 1-all when he cashed in a rebound in front of the net in the 53rd minute and Almir Batista put Kearny on top when he chipped the ball over goalie Ryan Baird in the 59th minute.
Fifth-seeded St. Peter’s Prep (12-6) would tie the game at two in the 81st minute when Andrew Romero scored a goal just inside the left post. The play was not without controversy as Kardinals coaches argued that Romero had illegally played the ball on a corner kick.
Freshman Ajani Phillips opened the scoring in the 12th minute for the Marauders when he scored on a breakaway.
Baird made three saves in net for Prep, while Tyler Anderson made nine stops for Kearny.
With the win, the Kardinals advance to their second straight HCT final, this time against No. 2 seed Bayonne on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Caven Point. Last year, Kearny dropped a 1-0 heart-breaker to Harrison in the title game.
Andrew Romero tied the game for St. Peter's Prep with his goal in the 81st minute.
1st |
2nd
|
OT |
Total |
|
| St. Peter's Prep Marauders (12-6) | 1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| Kearny Kardinals (14-2-1) | 0 |
2 |
1 |
3 |