John Adams has found itself at the right time. And the 20th-seeded Spartans are ruining one favorite’s season after another.
The latest victim was fourth-seeded Curtis, the Staten Island A champion. Adams got off to a fast start and held on for a 3-2 victory Thursday afternoon in St. George in the second round of the PSAL Class A playoffs.
Washington Ramirez, Kiyo Scott and Josh Lawrence each scored for the Spartans (9-2-3), who knocked off No. 13 Sheepshead Bay, 4-1, in the first round.
“I’m more than thrilled,” Adams coach Alex Navarrete said. “I want to play right now. I can’t wait for the next game. These kids keep on surprising me.”
Damian Mota and Nermin Kurtesi each scored once for Curtis (11-3-1), which was the last Staten Island team alive.
Lawrence starred in the win over Sheepshead, producing a hat trick. Thursday’s win was a group effort. Integral fullback Victor Ortiz was lost to injury early on, but others emerged in the back, such as Akeem Morgan and Rodrigo Pereyra. Navarrete went back to sophomore keeper Henry Gonzalez, who lost his job after struggling late, and he rewarded his coach’s faith by making 10 saves.
“It’s the team work, it’s the effort,” the coach said. “I don’t have a Rodolfo [Paguada], I don’t have an Alpha Dioubate. We need to rely on the whole team. The only way we can do something is if we play together, and this group has been able to understand that.”
Adams’ third trip to the ‘A’ quarterfinals in four years is its most unlikely one. It was in the running for a third straight Queens A West crown before consecutive losses to Long Island City and Aviation to end the regular season put an end to that.
Navarrete liked his chances against Sheepshead Bay, but certainly didn’t expect to be getting ready for the quarterfinals at this time last week. Yet, here are the Spartans, playing their best soccer of the year. And unlike recent seasons, when they had to face powerhouse Beacon at this juncture, Adams has a legit chance to reach the ‘A’ final four for the first time. It will take on the winner of Friday’s matchup between No. 5 Aviation and 12th-seeded Columbus.
“These kids can go up and down, but in the playoffs they don’t want to lose and we showed it today,” Navarrete said. “I can’t believe we’re in the quarterfinals and we’re going to have a chance to make it to the semis.”
No. 1 Martin Luther King Jr. 6, No. 16 Evander Childs 0: Kerfala Sylia scored twice, Ibrahim Diaby had a goal and two assists, Tarek Beckles and Steven Carvajal added a goal and an assist each and Amara Sesay also scored for MLK (13-0-0), which takes on the winner of No. 8 Bronx Science/No. 24 Dewitt Clinton in the quarterfinals Monday at 2:30 p.m. Evander Childs is 9-4-1.
No. 2 Francis Lewis 4, No. 18 Long Island City 1: Danny Bedoya scored twice and added an assist, Daniel Castro and Yiming Yang also scored and Luis Argulo and Luigi Puello tallied assists for Francis Lewis (13-0-0), which hosts seventh-seeded Tilden in the quarterfinals Monday at 2:30 p.m. Long Island City finishes the year 8-5-1.
No. 3 Beacon 2, No. 19 Thomas Jefferson 1: Ryan Cupolo and Theo Miller each scored once, Juan Martinez and Gideon Rosenthal had assists and keeper Max Brown made four saves for Beacon (11-2-0), which meets No. 6 Bayside in the quarterfinals Monday at 2:30 p.m. Jefferson caps the year with an 8-4-2 record.