North Bergen’s soccer team enjoying kicks
Tough grid losses for Secaucus, Weehawken and McGowan
Don’t mind veteran North Bergen soccer coach John Belluardo if he has a bright smile on his face these days. That’s because his team is playing the best soccer the school has enjoyed since its championship seasons of 1991 and 1992.
The Bruins were 9-7-1 a year ago, but they are enjoying a rebirth of sorts this year, posting a 10-3-1 record to date. Although they lost a heartbreaker to Emerson 2-0 last Tuesday, Belluardo is more than pleasantly surprised with his team’s performance this season, enjoying a nine-game winning streak before the loss to Emerson.
"I didn’t know what to expect," Belluardo said. "We lost five starters to injury before the first game and had to play five JV kids against Memorial. We lost that game, 5-0. Things didn’t look too good.
"But the strength of our team lies with our defense, and we have a lot of kids back from last year," Belluardo said. "Robert Osorio and Giovanny Perez are playing at defenders and Carlos Ramirez, our stopper, and Hassan Chahine, our sweeper, have all been playing well."
Another key to the Bruins’ success has been the last-minute shift Belluardo made before the season began. He took last year’s goalkeeper, senior Alejandro Dubello, and placed him in the midfield, and inserted a freshman, Luis Ossa, in at goalie. The move paid off great dividends, because Ossa has collected five shutouts to date and Dubello has scored two goals and collected three assists.
Freshman midfielder Luis Carrizoa and junior forward Gustavo Flores are the Bruins’ two leading scorers with 12 goals each. Oscar Fernandez has five goals.
"We’re not a one-man team and they all put in a solid effort," Belluardo said. "On any day, anybody can score and that’s a big plus for us."
Needless to say, Belluardo is a very happy man these days.
"It’s been very pleasurable dealing with this team," Belluardo said. "It’s our best year in a while and we’re looking forward to the playoffs."
The Bruins should know more where they stand after they take on undefeated Hudson Catholic later this week…
Also on the soccer scene, it may get lost in the shuffle, but not here, especially with a name like this. Secaucus’ Giuseppe Landolfo scored four goals in a game last week against Becton, giving him 23 goals for the season. With a great name like Giuseppe Landolfo, he deserves recognition. Tell me that’s not the name of a future opera star, one of the new "Three Tenors." He’s already in the running for soccer player of the year, just on name alone…
On the football front, there were a lot of tough losses in the past week, especially those suffered by Secaucus, Weehawken and Lincoln, in the form of losing its best player.
The Group I playoff hopes of both Secaucus and Weehawken were severely damaged with crushing losses last weekend. Secaucus lost 31-14 to St. Mary’s of Rutherford, while Weehawken was shocked 14-7 by Becton.
The losses to the two locals pushed both teams’ records to 3-2, but more importantly, sent them plummeting in the Group I power points standings. Weehawken now stands in seventh place with 16 points and Secaucus is now in ninth with 15 points.
Any further slip could be deadly. Weehawken was pushing toward its first state playoff berth ever. Now, the Indians will need some help.
And although Lincoln enhanced its chances in Group IV with a big 38-33 victory over Dickinson last Friday night, the Lions lost the services of Brandon "B-Rock" McGowan for the remainder of the season due to bone chips in his ankle. The Lions are now 4-2, but the loss of McGowan could be a devastating one to the Lions…
In the state playoff hunt, both Hoboken (in Group II) and North Bergen (Group IV) currently sit atop the power point rankings. Both appear headed toward yet another trip to the state playoffs.
After suffering the tough overtime loss to Hoboken, Emerson now appears locked in a dogfight for a playoff berth, with Lincoln right in the mix. It should be interesting to see what transpires down the stretch.
St. Peter’s Prep looks pretty secure in Parochial Group 4. The Marauders are currently ranked fourth in that bracket. Hudson Catholic, at 3-3, will need some help to get in.
Speaking of Hudson Catholic, did anyone catch the performance of Brad Cunningham last week, in a 29-8 win over Snyder? Cunningham merely rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown and collected eight tackles on defense in the game. Cunningham continues to impress the college scouts with every passing game…