Fox Lane offense comes alive in win over Harrison

Fredy Contreras beats a defender for the Foxes.

Lucas Ormazabal celebrates after scoring his second goal against Harrison. Photos by Jim MacLean

By JIM MACLEAN

Goals have been hard to come by for the Fox Lane boys varsity soccer team as the Foxes have been winning a lot of close games behind a strong defense, off to a 3-0-2 start with just six goals scored in five games.

So when the Foxes fell behind early 2-0 against an undefeated Harrison team, it didn’t look good. However, the host Foxes responded, scoring four unanswered goals for a 4-2 victory over the Huskies on Friday, Sept. 26.

Dex Osherow scored what proved to be the game-winning goal early in the second half as he pounced on an opportunity as Harrison tried to play it back to their goalie and Osherow beat him to the ball and put it home for a 3-2 lead.

“Have to play aggressive sometimes, I took advantage of their mistake, I saw it and had to go for it, that was all that was going through my mind,” Osherow explained. “They’re a good team and this is a big win for us.”

Especially after the way it started as Harrison came out strong and controlled the play and took a 1-0 lead with 16:58 left in the first half. Four minutes later, the Huskies made it 2-0, but Fox Lane was able to answer back as Lucas Ormazabal scored off a cross from Osherow to cut the lead down to 2-1 with 6:59 left in the half. Then Hannes Fernqvist headed in a shot off a free kick by Fredy Contreras to even it up at 2-2 with two minutes left in the half.

Fox Lane carried the momentum over into the second half as the Foxes controlled the action and Osherow scored 10 minutes in to make it 3-2. Ormazabal then added his second goal of the game in the final minute to close out a 4-2 victory for the Foxes.

“They’re a really good team, undefeated, state ranked, and we knew it would be tough, credit to our guys, we gave up a couple and they just kept fighting, a nice gut check win,” said Fox Lane coach Mike Tomassi. “Dex’s goal, that was all effort, him seeing the moment, putting the pressure on and making good things happen. These guys play hard and today was a perfect example of that, just grinding it out.”

After taking the lead, it was up to the Fox Lane defense to close it out with goalie Drew Bagley recording eight saves with the help of his senior defenders Fernqvist, Leo Crisostomo-Garcia, Ryan Joseph and Eoin McIntyre in front of him.

“Defense did their part, they’re just dogs back there and play hard and clean up a lot; our back four has been our strong point and will continue to be,” explained Tomassi. “Offense always takes longer to come together. We’ve got a lot of talented players and we’re starting to find the right mix and the offense was great today.”

Prior to the win over Harrison, Fox Lane scored a 2-1 victory on the road over Yorktown behind goals from Ormazabal and Osherow. The Foxes also tied rival Horace Greeley 1-1 as Ryan Joseph scored the goal for Fox Lane.

However, the Foxes couldn’t carry the momentum over to their next game. The day after beating Harrison, Fox Lane traveled to Byram Hills on Saturday, Sept. 27, and suffered a 4-0 setback as the Bobcats handed the Foxes their first loss of the season.

At 4-1-2 overall on the season, Fox Lane hopes to bounce back Friday, Oct. 3, as the Foxes host Port Chester for homecoming.