Kearny, NJ: The boys soccer team defeated Clifton 1-0 and advance to the semifinals of the North Jersey, Section 1, Group IV state sectional tournament.
The first half started with Kearny creating various chances that they were unable to take advantage of. Clifton soon began to creep into the game, but Kearny did well in keeping control of the game. With every passing minute, the game was getting more aggressive. More and more fouls were being called with some players becoming more and more frustrated. The half ended all square, and the game was to be decided in the second half.
The second 40 minutes started out relatively even, with both sides having chances to score. The first 15 minutes presented no real danger to either keeper. The first time Kearny presented danger to the Clifton keeper in the second half, they scored the only goal of the match. Richard Blancas sent Daniel Dos Santos on the right flank, who made a perfect cross to Kevin Tapia, who headered the ball into the bottom left corner of the net, sending the Kearny faithful into a frenzy. The Kards were up 1-0 and on their way to the semifinals of the sectional tournament. Immediately after the first goal, Marcello Matta played a perfect ball to Andres Pesantez, who would have doubled Kearny's lead had it not been for a great save from the Clifton goalkeeper.
The game began to heat up after the goal, and tempers were beginning to flair on Clifton's end. The support from the fans from each team continued to grow with each offensive movement, and grown with every foul called against their team. Kearny did not let up and looked to get a more comfortable lead. The Clifton keeper was forced into a few good saves to keep his team in the match after shots from Andres Pesantez and Kevin Tapia.
About 5 minutes before the final whistle, there was a dispute on the field among players from both teams. The footage was not captured, therefore we are unsure of who was disciplined. Soon after the dispute, the game had to be stopped, because a Clifton player received a yellow card and came off, and had 2 players replace him. Clifton had played with 12 men for 3 minutes until the Kearny coaching staff realized and told the head referee.
The game ended with a score of Kearny 1-0 Clifton. With this win, the Kardinals move on to the semifinals of the North Jersey, Section 1, Group IV state sectional tournament, where they will face 4th seeded Bergen Tech.
Kearny Starting XI: (4-4-2)
GK: Michael Barros (@MikeHBarros)
LB: Damian Kolodziej (@KolodziejDamian) CB: Michael Dias (@MichaelDlas03) CB: Andrew Quintos (Andrew_Quintos) RB: Michael Almeida (@mikealmeidaa4)
LM: Cristian Sieira (@cris_sieira14) CM: Marcello Matta (@10Marcelo23) CM: Richard Blancas (@RichieBlancas) RM: Danny Dos Santos (@DannyDS107)
ST: Kevin Tapia (@K3vin15Tapia), ST: Andres Pesantez (@andrespesantez4)
Also featured: Arturo Sanchez (@Artie1706), Adrian Velazquez (@1214_adrian)
Video filmed by: Daniel Amaro (@damaro_96)
Edited by: Brian Fonseca (@briannnnf)
Songs used: Tony Igy - Astronomia
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