For a group that hasn’t been known for its offensive output in recent years, New Rochelle came into their season-opener on Sept. 4 looking like a team attempting to rewrite a narrative. Taking on North Rockland on Saturday afternoon, the Huguenots displayed plenty of creativity on the attack, blitzing the Red Raiders for a convincing 3-1 victory.
Historically considered one of the stouter defensive teams in Class AA, the Huguenots struggled at times to finish last year, and were shut out five times in a shortened fall season. But with 1:41 left before halftime on Saturday, Jonathan Alvaraz was fouled just outside of the Red Raiders’ box, setting up a direct kick for Jayden Barragan, who buried his chance just inside the post to break a scoreless tie. Just over a minute later, Fernando Ramirez struck again, giving the Huguenots some breathing room and a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room.
According to New Rochelle head coach Jarohan Garcia, the Huguenots didn’t put any extra emphasis on scoring goals during the preseason, but instead have simply aimed to create scoring chances.
“We never focus on goal-scoring, it’s not something I tell them; there are so many things that go into a goal, so many ways to get yourself in a scoring opportunity and you never know when they’re going happen,” Garcia said. “But you could tell after Jayden scored, the celebration was euphoric, they got the chance to celebrate on the field in front of our fans.”
Of course, Barragan’s goal would not have been the opening goal of the game, if not for some heroics on the other end of the pitch.
In the opening minutes, North Rockland found themselves in a position to grab the early lead with Huguenot keeper Daniel Madeira on the ground and out of the net after making a diving save. But New Rochelle center back Diego Tejada was able to stop a subsequent shot and clear the ball, ending the best scoring chance the Red Raiders would have in the half.
“It was tremendous, Diego read it really well and he understood where he was position-wise,” said Garcia. “And from there, we stepped up.”
Overall, Garcia was pleased with the way his team acquitted itself in its opening test, especially against a solid foe like North Rockland.
“It was a tall order for sure, historically we have had great games against them,” he said. “We knew it was going to test every aspect of the team, from fitness to adapting to new systems.”
But beyond wins and losses, Garcia was just happy his team had the ability to step on the field and compete, especially after a year wracked by a pandemic and a Wednesday flood that did significant damage to New Rochelle High School.
“We come up with a slogan every year for the team, and this year it was ‘Don’t Look Back,’” he said. “It’s about the mentality to just keep moving forward and rolling with the punches. Sometimes life can be unplanned, but this embodies their maturity.”
