Girls Soccer

November 1, 2009

Kardinals cruise to Hudson title

Kearny

Kearny celebrates after a 6-0 victory to win the Hudson County Tournament.

Click Here for more photos from Bayonne at Kearny.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

KEARNY – Last season when Kearny’s standout forward Samantha Pace went down with a knee injury, no one was able to pick up the slack on offense.

This year, with Pace healthy and a talented collection of young forwards, the Kardinals’ offense has been nearly impossible to stop.

Yesterday was no exception as four different players found the net as Kearny stormed past Bayonne 6-0 to win the Hudson County Tournament in a performance that head coach Vine Almeida said was their best of the season.

“Last year we were really struggling to find forwards,” Almeida said. “This year we have five or six really quality forwards that could start for other teams.”

Pace took home team MVP honors for the top-seeded Kardinals (16-2) with a goal and two assists, but she was hardly alone this day.

Unfazed by the pressure of a championship game freshman Katie O’Neill and sophomores Stefanie Gomes and Mercedes Lois combined for the other five goals in a dominant performance.

Gomes and O’Neill had two goals and two assists apiece in the win and Lois had a goal of her own. In total, the forward quintet of Gomes, Lois, O’Neill, Pace and Janitza Aquino combined for 17 goals in three tournament games.

“I’m almost like a distraction (for the other team) because there are two great players on the side of me,” said Pace who is often the main focus of the opposing defense. “Even when they come off the field there are two more great players that replace them. Goal scoring hasn’t been a problem this year.”

Despite the constant shuffling in and out of the lineup, the group up front has developed a chemistry and selflessness that has propelled them thus far.

“This is a true team,” Pace said. “There are no individual players, but a whole team.”

“It’s easy to work with each other because we all know what we’re doing that does make it easier,” Lois said.

Pace needed just five minutes to put the top-seeded Kardinals (16-2) on the scoreboard with a goal from the top of the 18-yard box.

O’Neill and Gomes proceeded to add goals in a span of 10 minutes to put the game out of reach midway through the opening half.

During the regular season, both matchups between the Kardinals and Bees (10-7) were closely-contested affairs with Kearny winning by scores of 3-1 and 2-1.

“We were really fired up for this game because Bayonne gave us really tough games the previous two games,” Almeida said. “If we were sleeping, they definitely would have put us away.”

The Kardinals were hardly a one-dimensional team in the victory. The defensive duo of Kelly McDonald and Ashleigh Amadeo prevented Bayonne from getting sophomore sniper Lisa Rovatsos heavily involved in the game.

“We were patient which is usually weird for a defense,” Almeida said. “Not just diving in wildly to win balls that are too risky.

“They contained (Rovatsos) and didn’t give her many options,” Almeida said about McDonald and Amadeo. “They did a great job.”

With McDonald and Amadeo making life easy in front of her, goalie Alicia Weber made fives saves in net for Kearny before giving way to Fernanda Lois in the game’s final minutes.

Facing a barrage of shots, Shannon Krand made six saves in net for Bayonne and forward Nikki Buczkowski took home team MVP honors for the Bees.

Katie O'Neill Kearny

Freshman Katie O'Neill had two goals and two assists for Kearny.

 
1st
2nd
Total
Bayonne (10-7)
0
0
0
Kearny (16-2)
3
3
6
 
K: Samantha Pace (Katie O'Neill) 5th minute
K: O'Neill (Stephanie Gomes) 17th minute
K: Gomes (Janitza Aquino) 26th minute
K: Gomes (Pace) 45th minute
K: O'Neill (Gomes) 55th minute
K: Mercedes Lois (Pace) 60th minute
 

Goalies: B: Shannon Krand (6 saves); K: Alicia Weber (5 saves), Fernanda Lois.