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Sports
Sports & Recreation
It’s lucky No. 13 for Kearny girls despite adversity along the way
Photo by Jason Bernstein
Kearny boys repeat as Hudson soccer champs, eye bigger prize
By Jason Bernstein
jason@theobserver.com
While members of the Kearny boys soccer team were happy after defeating Union City, 3-0, for the Hudson County Tournament championship at Red Bull Arena on Friday night, the celebration afterward seemed just a little subdued.
Yes there were smiles, and photos and interactions with friends and family members in the crowd postgame. But within that excitement came an understanding more work and greater goals await, most notably, another state championship.
“We have bigger goals for this year and we have a lot of pressure on our back,” said senior defender and captain Michael Reis. “There were a lot of people who were talking down about us and we want to show them what we can do again.”
But before they can potentially repeat as NJSIAA Group 4 champions in the next couple of weeks, first was their defense of their
See CHAMPS, Page 11
By Jason Bernstein
jason@theobserver.com
For the 13th season in a row, the Kearny girls’ soccer team celebrated a Hudson County Tournament championship on Friday night, Oct. 21. But unlike many of those other previous titles, the Kardinals road to a County title came with a level of adversity others hadn’t experienced.
That adversity made this championship all the more rewarding for a group, which endured more than its fair share of injuries, as well as a shocking five-game losing streak, before celebrating at Red Bull Arena following its 2-0 win over an improved Bayonne team.
“We’ve had an up-anddown season, we had the five-game losing streak, but we knew that we had to come out, show who we were in this game,” senior captain Maci Covello said. “We knew that we had to own Hudson County for another year again. Our hard work just showed and we’re really proud of the work we’ve put in.”
Covello, a three-year starter, delivered the exclamation point to the championship victory with an insurance goal in the 62nd minute when she took a feed from fellow senior captain Paige Raefski.
The second goal gave Kearny the extra breathing room it needed. Its depth was once again tested with standout defender Julia Araujo and breakout midfielder Olivia Ovello both came off due to injury in the second half.
Playing without two key starters was merely just the latest example of fighting its way back.
“We’ve seen it all this year already,” head coach Michael Sylvia said. “We’ve played with injury, we’ve played big games. We’re in a position where every time we play a strong team, it makes us better, whether we win or whether we lose.
“They’re resilient. They’re very resilient and it makes when they come back healthy that much more special.”
Kearny withstood Bayonne’s early offensive pressure. But when the young Bees made a mistake on the
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