November 2, 2011

Kevin Ortiz scored in the second half as top-seeded Kearny advances to the next round. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Memorial at Kearny Boys Soccer Photo Gallery

KEARNY – Kearny head coach Billy Galka said he never looked at the record of his team's first round opponent. He knew that Memorial would provide a challenge much greater than its three wins or No. 16 seed would indicate upon first glance.

The top-seeded Kardinals knew that it was a team which required their complete attention and effort in order to advance and past the West New York school for a third time this season.

Kearny did just that as it snapped a rare two-game losing streak and defeated the visiting Tigers 3-0 in the opening round of the NJSIAA North 1, Group IV tournament yesterday at Harvey Field.

"We never looked at that. I never looked at it because I knew we had a real tough game with them," said Galka, citing his team's 2-1 contest with Memorial on Oct. 20. "They were pretty good that night, so I didn't look at their record at all. I knew they'd be a pretty good team that was hungry to play and beat Kearny. We knew it'd be a tough game."

"It's hard because you never know what to expect," said senior captain Ryan Wilson. "They can come in having a good day, they can come in having a bad day. Every time we've played them so far, they've given us a challenge. We knew what to expect."

After relatively even-matched start, Kearny (15-4) broke through in the 33rd minute when Abdellah Bouzidi cashed in on a rebound in front of the net off an Almir Batista free quick for the game's first goal.

From that point the Kardinals set the offensive tempo of the contest, taking advantage of a short-handed Tigers (3-14) defense which lost Eric Parades just a few minutes before the first goal. The senior full back was forced out of the game and later taken to a hospital with a bloodied face after being involved in a violent collision on an attempted slide tackle.

"It was a challenging game from that moment, Memorial head coach Albert De Los Reyes said about the injury. " Losing that nucleus of the defense, that changed the momentum of the game. For 29 minutes we were doing quite well, prior to that injury."

Kearny would add to its lead in the second half with goals from Kevin Ortiz and Renato Vigo as it was in complete control of the game and looked every bit like a No. 1 seed and title contender.

"They look like a very legit team," De Los Reyes said. "If they keep up that same game, the team will be challenging for anyone. They move the ball well. They conduct themselves very well in the back and in the midfield."

Tyler Anderson made two saves in net for the shutout, while Memorial's Kevin Fuentes made 10 stops in defeat.

With the win, the Kardinals advance to play ninth-seeded Montclair on Friday. Montclair advanced after defeating North Bergen in penalty kicks.

"We want to get that title back to Kearny, Soccer Town U.S.A." said Wilson. "It's everything we've been fighting for since August 15 so we're just going to give it everything we've got until the very end."

Senior goalkeeper Kevin Fuentes made 10 saves in net for Memorial. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Memorial at Kearny Boys Soccer Photo Gallery