The Secaucus High School girls’ soccer team advanced all the way to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I semifinals recently before falling to Glen Ridge, 2-0.
It was the first time in nine years that the Patriots had advanced that far in the state tournament.
Needless to say, no one could have ever predicted that the Patriots would make it to the sectional semifinals.
“We weren’t expected to go that far,” said third-year head coach Kaefer Garcia. “But we had to make a statement that we were making progress. We had been eliminated each year in the first round. We had to show everyone we belonged and it wasn’t just a fluke.”
Garcia said that he was encouraged by close losses to NJIC powers Dwight-Englewood and Lyndhurst.
“It was a sign that we were getting closer,” Garcia said. “I read to the girls all the years of getting eliminated early. I knew all these girls from training with the youth program. We got a lot of help from a strong freshman class. I think teams will have to notice us moving forward. We’re here to stay.”
Junior Mackenzie Szabo is the team’s goalkeeper.
“From her freshman year until now, she’s made such a great improvement,” Garcia said. “Everyone now notices her as being one of the top goalies in our league. Without her, I don’t know if we would have won any big games.”
The Patriots advanced to the semifinals by defeating Wood-Ridge and then Hoboken by identical 2-1 scores.
The center defender is junior Joan Banks.
“She’s my rock in the back,” Garcia said. “She’s really grown into that role. She should be one of the finest center backs in our league next year.”
Senior Gianna Zena is another standout defender.
“I’m going to be sad to see her go,” Garcia said. “She formed a great partnership back there with Joan. Gianna is as tough as nails and she picked up most of the slack.”
Freshman Nicole Parise is another fine defender.
“She was an amazing addition to our team,” Garcia said. “She’s going to be one of the top players in our league. She was very steady with our defense.”
Senior Nicole Kelly is the fourth member of the defensive line.
“She grew into the role of being a leader for us and she got better and better,” Garcia said. “She was solid back there. I can’t complain about her.”
Junior Jasmin Bujari is the team’s center midfielder. She’s the younger sister of former Secaucus and Rutgers University football standout Betim Bujari.
“She is great in distributing the ball,” Garcia said. “She’s a tough girl on the field, but the sweetest girl ever off.”
Junior Kayla Ducusin is another midfielder.
“She does a good job making the through passes and been settling into her role there,” Garcia said.
Freshman Paige Quinones is another starting midfielder. Quinones scored six goals this season.
“She’s definitely someone to keep an eye on,” Garcia said.
Junior Caroline Andrianni is another midfielder who concentrates on ball control.
“She holds the ball well and passes it well,” Garcia said. “She makes smart passes that helps our attack.”
The standout goal scorer for the Patriots is junior Damaris Rodriguez, who is also a standout on the Secaucus basketball team. Rodriguez broke the school record for goals scored, tallying 19 goals this season to give her 55 for her career.
“Without Damaris, we wouldn’t be a threat in the league,” Garcia said. “She scores goals from all over, from the outside, from in close. The girl has the potential to play in college.”
But her true love is basketball, so playing soccer in college might be a tough sell when that time comes along.
“She’s one of the top attackers in the NJIC,” Garcia said of Rodriguez. “She’s progressed nicely.”
Senior Hailey Mojica is another member of the Patriots’ front line. Mojica scored six goals and added four assists this season.
“She was probably our most improved player,” Garcia said. “She definitely came through for us.”
Sophomore Kaitlyn Kelly, the younger sister of teammate Nicole, is another player on the front line.
“She’s very versatile,” Garcia said. “I can put her in the midfield or even defense and she’s handle it. Her versatility helped us out.”
Sophomore midfielder Zoe Sakatos and freshman forward Harveen Jhamatt are key contributors off the bench.
“We have a bright future,” Garcia said. “We’re 100 percent better than what we were.” …
While the NJSIAA state football playoffs continue, there were still major glitches in the new playoff system this season.
For example, Union City was moved at the last day to North Jersey Section 2, Group V after being in North Section 1 since the school was formed 10 years ago. The Soaring Eagles suddenly went from the top seed in North 1 to the second seed in North 2 with no rhyme or reason from the NJSIAA.
“It’s certainly extremely disappointing,” Union City head coach Wilber Valdez said. “We had it as a goal to be the top seed in North 1. The goal is always to be No. 1. We did what we were supposed to do in terms of dropping easy games and picking up more competitive ones. We went 7-1 and still didn’t get the top seed.”
Valdez also didn’t know that the NJSIAA was using the Born Power Index as a way to determine playoff seeding.
“It just smelled funny.” Valdez said. “I didn’t want our kids to feel defeated. You still have to line up and play the games, but it is disappointing. It sucks. I don’t even know what other words to use.”
The Soaring Eagles won their playoff game, defeating Westfield to advance to the semifinals to face Union.
It was worse for Bayonne head coach Jason Acerra. His team would have been the fifth seed in North 2, Group V if the old power point system was still in place. But with the new format, the talented Bees with four scholarship players on their roster had to settle for a “consolation” game against Perth Amboy. They were out of the state playoffs.
“It’s frustrating,” Acerra said. “It’s sad for my seniors, because they busted their tails this season. The hardest thing for me as a coach was to tell them that we were out because of the new system in place. These kids are like my family. We’re always together. I hate to disappoint them. I didn’t think we weren’t getting in and some teams with 2-6 records got in. I thought we did enough to get in.”
Needless to say, improvements have to be made in the system before next year. Bayonne did win its final game against Perth Amboy to finish the season at 7-3…
The Great Hagueini went 3-2 with his playoff predictions last week. This week, he likes Union City over Union, St. Peter’s Prep over St. Joseph’s (Metuchen), Montclair over North Bergen and Holy Spirit over Hudson Catholic. Remember, don’t use these predictions for any wagering, unless it’s for an egg salad sandwich on a Kaiser roll and a diet Sprite with your Uncle Looie.—Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached via e-mail at OGSMAR@aol.com
