Pictured clockwise from the top, Lucas Ormazabal (25) gets off a shot for what proved to be the game-winning goal for Fox Lane over Horace Greeley. Gavin Morales keeps his eye on the ball. Hannes Fernqvist clears one away to save a goal for the Foxes. Jim MacLean Photos
By JIM MACLEAN
For many years, Horace Greeley has been a bit of a nemesis for the Fox Lane boys varsity soccer team, a local rival that always seems to find a way to come out on top.
Greeley had already defeated Fox Lane twice during the regular season, but when the Section 1 Class AA Tournament seeds were announced, the Foxes were excited to see they could get another shot at the Quakers in the quarterfinals.
Fox Lane made the most of the opportunity as the sixth seeded Foxes traveled to face the third-seeded Quakers on Tuesday, Oct. 29, and the Foxes came out on top 2-1 to advance to the semifinals.
The Foxes came out strong and gained an early lead in the first half as senior star midfielder Kenny Mejia-Lopex drilled a long shot that found its way into the net for a 1-0 lead at the half.
“I was lucky it hit the cross bar and it felt amazing when it went in,” said Mejia-Lopez. “We came in here, we already lost to them twice, and we decided that third time was not going to happen, we had that confident mindset. Greeley is a tough team, tough field to play at, but we knew we could do it and we were ready for them and this feels great.”
Fox Lane carried the momentum over into the second half as the Foxes took control with a second goal just two and a half minutes into the half. This time it was a varsity newcomer playing the hero as sophomore Lucas Ormazabal took a long feed from Gavin Morales down the line and lifted a shot past the Greeley keeper for the goal.
“Huge win for us, unbelievable,” admitted Fox Lane coach Mike Tomassi. “Greeley is a great program, a rivalry, I have so much respect for them and what they’ve done. They’re a soccer school. They’ve won sectional championships. We played them tough earlier and felt we’ve continued to improve and we wanted to come back to this field, we wanted this one and the effort and intensity we played with today showed that.”
Ormazabal had also scored in the first-round playoff game to help the Foxes advance as the sophomore continues to make his mark on the varsity. He was called up from the junior varsity just a couple of weeks ago after the Foxes suffered some injuries up front, and he picked a perfect time to score the biggest goal of his varsity career as it proved to be the game-winner against Greeley.
“He’s a j.v. call up and he’s played great,” Tomassi said of Ormazabal. “His first varsity game ever was here versus Greeley just a couple of weeks ago. Now, to be the person who scored the goal to send us to the sectional semifinals on the same field, that’s unbelievable for him.”
Greeley was able to break through in the second half with 9:25 left to play as the Quakers scored on a direct kick from outside the box to make it 2-1. The pressure was on for the Fox Lane defense and the Foxes were up to the challenge. Both Fox Lane goalkeepers came up with big saves as Drew Bagley was in the goal for the first half and Eli Daglio came through in the second half to close out the victory. Hannes Fernqvist came up big on defense as he cleared away a shot from the goal line late in the second half to hold on to the one-goal lead.
“Our defense held strong, we played physical and did the right things,” added Tomassi. “Hannes was unbelievable, Greeley has one of the best strikers in the section and Hannes took the challenge to mark him and did a fantastic job.”
The Foxes started the tournament with a 3-0 first round shutout victory at home on Saturday, Oct. 26, over No. 11-seed Yonkers. Ryan Joseph, Kenny Mejia-Lopez, and Ormazabal each scored a goal to lift the Foxes to the victory and help them advance to the quarterfinal showdown at Greeley.
Fox Lane was scheduled to face No. 2-seed Peekskill in the semifinals on Thursday, Oct. 31, and the winner advances to the Section 1 Class AA championship game on Sunday, Nov. 3, at Lakeland.