Harrison boys soccer players (left to right): Fabio Falla, Christian Barrios, Alex Zambrano, Anas Oufrid, Angelo De La Cruz, Jhowy Picon, Estiven Alvarez
For Mike Rusek this preseason has brought an old feeling to the longtime Harrison boys soccer coach.
While several members of last year’s Group 2 state finalist, including All-State midfielder Yusufu Jaite and 20-goal scorer Frank Barrera, are gone to graduation, the long playoff run it went on has produced a level of confidence and determination that has at times been lacking in recent memory.
“I think the past few years, a lot of my teams had a lack of understanding of what it’s like to get to the state finals,” said Rusek. “They just didn’t have that level of confidence because we kept having these tough losses (earlier in the tournament).
“This year feels kind of like my old days coaching when we were consistently getting the state finals and we would come back the next year and know what we have to do and we want to do it again. I kinda got that feel again this year from the group of returning plays and it’s nice to get that back.”
Headlining that group of returning players from last year’s 19-6-2 team, are two of the state’s top midfielders in senior Christian Barrios and junior Pedro Barreto Reis.
Barrios, a four-year varsity player for the Blue Tide, returns to start as the holding midfielder. Despite his skills as a defender, Barrios proved more than capable of making an impact on the offensive end with seven goals and 10 assists.
“He’s the type of kid that at some point in his soccer career, he’s played every position that there is,” Rusek said. “He’s very versatile for us.”
Barreto Reis, had 10 goals and three assists a season ago and is poised for even bigger things this year as an attacking midfielder.
“He’s been scoring big goals for us since he was a freshman,” Rusek said. “You rarely see a freshman do that, but he’s been ready to be a big time player in high school since the day he walked in.”
Sophomore Jhowy Pincon takes over as the primary center midfielder after seeing some time last season as a freshman. On the outside of the midfield will be senior Fabio Falla and sophomores Johao Narvaez and Jose Agudelo.
Senior Derek Castro, a transfer from Newark East Side is set to have a key role as an attacking midfielder later in the season for Harrison, which will also rely on minutes in the midfield from junior Santiago Rodriguez, freshman Fabian Palacios and senior Nick Dos Santos.
Junior Kiandry Aban, who had eight goals and four assists, is set for a bigger role up top following the graduation of Barrera. Senior Samuel De Souza, a skilled yet physical striker, is also poised for major minutes at forward. Sophomore Estiven Alvarez and promising freshmen Alex Zambrano and Michael Barrera are in line for time up top as well.
On the backline, senior Angelo De La Cruz and junior Talha Husain are set for big roles at center back after serving as reserves a season ago, as is junior Diego Castaneda.
Michael Palacios and Marllon Da Rocha take over as the outside backs.Rusek is hopeful that both seniors can also be factors on the attack based on their history of playing in the midfield.
In goal, junior Anas Oufrid is set to take over as the starting keeper in 2025 after serving as the backup last season. Sophomore Renato Morales is Oufrid’s backup.
Harrison begins the defense of its North 2, Group 2 title on September 3 at Hawthorne before playing its home opener two days later against Cresskill. On Saturday, Sept. 5 the Blue Tide travel to Notre Dame in Hopewell to face Robbinsville as part of the Soccer Coaches Association of NJ Back 2 School Kick-Off.
Learn more about the writer ...
Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)