Finishing the regular season with a 9-6-1 record, the Viking boys’ soccer team has had a successful year. Not only achieving their annual goal of making states but also achieving what hasn’t been accomplished in nearly five years- the Vikings earned themselves a county tournament berth. Although they lost first round to a solid Bergenfield team, who went on to be eliminated in the semi-final of the tournament, Coach Dembowski can only be proud of his team so far this year. Like he said in the beginning of the season, he wants a state title team and they certainly have the opportunity to go all-the-way.
Their first round game will be against a strong Dayton side, which finished their regular season 10-8. As the number five seed, North Arlington will have to play away the second round because Dayton is the fourth seed. Both teams received a BYE the first round. This means each team is only three wins away from a state-title. Now that North Arlington is playing tougher teams in states, they will need to make a few changes to their line-up to strengthen their young defense. Moving Danny Cordeiro to center defensive midfield, Moises Polanco to stopper, and Bestar Bajaj to left back, the team should be superior to any offense they will encounter in the state tournament. With some a hard work and determination this underdog team can surprise many of their opponents.