Fox Lane tunes up for fall with summer league action

By Jim MacLean

From above, Lucas Ormazabal vies for a loose ball. Fredy Contreras wins race for loose ball at midfield for Fox Lane. Gavin Morales drills a shot for Fox Lane against Sleepy Hollow.  Jim MacLean Photos Jim Maclean

It is no secret, after Fox Lane advanced to the Section 1 finals last year, every opponent will come ready to play against the Foxes this fall in the upcoming boys soccer season. And every opponent will be focused on defense to try and contain Fredy Contreras and Gavin Morales, two of the leading scorers for the Foxes last year and two big reasons for optimism heading into the new season.

However, stopping them is easier said than done, and sometimes all it takes is one big play, one opportunity, and that was all the duo needed in summer league action on Monday as Fox Lane squared off against Sleepy Hollow.

With the two teams locked in a scoreless tie midway through the second half, Contreras lined up for a free kick from about 30 yards out, and he lofted it to the box where Morales headed it home for the only goal of the game and a 1-0 Fox Lane victory.

“A little eye contact, that’s all we needed, we’ve played together a lot and we know each other,” Morales said of the goal. “That was a really good ball by Fredy, and I just needed to finish, we needed a goal.”

The rest was up to the defense and Fox Lane finished it off registering the shutout victory. With the win, Fox Lane moved into third-place in the Ossining Summer League with 24 points overall, trailing only first-place John Jay of East Fishkill and Ossining A in second-place with the playoffs ready to begin.

While winning games and maybe a title is nice in the summer league, the Foxes know the main reason for competing is not about the wins and losses, but more about preparing for the upcoming season. The Foxes hope to make it another memorable season after the playoff run last fall advancing to the championship game before falling short of the Class AA Section 1 title.

“The team is very excited for this upcoming season, everyone is excited and we want more,” Contreras said of the Foxes. “We know everyone is coming for Fox Lane now, we’re no longer the underdogs. We’re missing a lot of guys tonight, but everyone is committed. We believe in our coaches and they believe in us, and it’s not just about winning games here in summer league, we’re working hard and we’re excited for the season.”

The Foxes lost leading scorer Kenny Mejia-Lopez to graduation as he will be playing in college at St. Lawrence University this fall, but most of the starting lineup returns giving the Foxes reason for optimism heading into the new season. 

“We’re feeling good, we have a pretty strong team with most of our team coming back,” added Morales. “We really want to win it this year, we lost our main guy Kenny, but we’re ready to rebuild and win, we’re 100% ready and looking strong.”

With the victory over Sleepy Hollow, the Foxes finished the summer league action with an 8-3-1 overall to earn the third seed.

Fox Lane was set to start the summer league playoffs on Wednesday, July 23, against the number 14 seed Ossining C.

The Fox Lane girls soccer team is also competing in the Ossining summer league with the Foxes combined with Rye Neck. The Fox Lane/Rye Neck team defeated Blind Brook/Valhalla 5-0 in its final game before heading into the playoffs.