Four goals by Mejia-Lopez lifts Fox Lane to win over John Jay

Above, John Jay’s Devon Kislin and Fox Lane’s Daniel Troksi battle for loose ball. Fox Lane goalie Drew Bagley makes a save over John Jay’s Ben Swiderski.

Fox Lane’s Kenny Mejia Lopez (center) is mobbed by teammates to celebrate after he scored one of his four goals in victory over John Jay. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

It is very rare for a player to score four goals in a varsity soccer game, but Fox Lane senior, Kenny Mejia Lopez, managed to do just that in the season opener lifting the Foxes to a 4-0 victory Saturday over rival John Jay on the new turf field at Fox Lane High School.

Fox Lane took control in the first half with Mejia Lopez scoring two goals for a 2-0 halftime lead, and he then converted a pair of penalty kicks less than a minute apart in the second half to blow it open at 4-0 with 34:42 left to play.

For John Jay, it was the third game of the season as the Wolves had a busy first week of school and scored a 5-0 win on the road at Nanuet the night before coming to Fox Lane.

However, this game belonged to Fox Lane as the hosts wanted to put on a good show on the new field and the Foxes delivered with a strong game from start to finish. It was a good start to what Fox Lane coach Mike Tomassi feels could be a very good year for a talented team.

“Our first game, we’ll take it. This is my fourth year as coach and we’ve been building to this year. We feel like this is a year where we can take a step forward and really compete and I think we showcased that today.”

Fox Lane has only six seniors on the roster, but the Foxes have a lot of experience and depth at every position. Senior captains Connor Cox and Eli Daglio are both three-year varsity players with Daglio the returning starter in goal for the Foxes. Tomassi feels the best part about his roster is its depth. 

“We have a lot of depth this year, probably the deepest team we’ve had with about 20 guys ready to step on the field, very fortunate to have guys at all positions that can really play. We’ll continue to get better, only our first game, so we’re excited to start the year on the right foot. This group is super motivated, they want more and they showed today we’re ready to go.”

While John Jay went home with a 4-0 loss, co-head coach Elliott O’Sullivan felt it has been a good start overall to the season for the Wolves as they opened with three games in four days and stand at 1-2 overall.

“This one was a tough one, Fox Lane has a super star (Mejia Lopez), playing back-to-back is never easy, and the two penalty kicks didn’t help, but it was a good battle and I think both teams can do well this year. It’s been a good start for our group, a lot of sophomores, we’re quite young, but we’ve come out a lot sharper this year, team morale is high and we’re looking forward to it, taking it one game at a time.”

The highlight of the week for John Jay was the trip to Nanuet the day before Fox Lane as the Wolves traveled across the river and cruised to a 5-0 victory. Dennis Galvin led the way as he scored two goals, while Will Harris, Jeremy Walerys and Ryan Ramirez each scored a goal for the Wolves.

John Jay opened the season with a tough 1-0 setback at home Wednesday, Sept. 4, to Ramapo.

FL boys soc celebrate

Fox Lane’s Kenny Mejia Lopez (center) is mobbed by teammates to celebrate after he scored one of his four goals in victory over John Jay.