Kennedy continues to roll with impressive results

On Sept. 26, the Kennedy boy soccer team maintained its momentum with a 4-0 win at Nicollet Avenue neighbor Richfield.

The Eagles continued its recent form of finding goals in bunches as they enter the final week of the regular season in second place in the Tri-Metro Conference.

Kennedy scored at least four times for the fourth consecutive game, with all four goals coming from junior striker Marlon Seahorn Jr., who needed just 10 games to score 23 goals and add one assist.

Seahorn has 12 goals over the last four games.

Kennedy senior captain Junior Ontiveros Castillo added two assists, while senior captain Jessey Estudilo Garcia and junior Josser Andres Chaves Bustos each had one assist.

Second place was on the line, with Kennedy earning the three points from the victory to improve to 5-1-1 in the Tri-Metro with 16 points. The loss was the first for Richfield, which dropped to 4-1-1 with 13 points with one game in hand. Both teams trail unbeaten Holy Angels (7-0-0) with 21 points (12-1-0 overall), which maintains the top spot in the state Class AA poll.

Richfield coach John Niday said the loss was the first time the team came out flat this season. “Nerves got to them, big game in the conference, big rivalry game,” he said as the team bounced back with a 2-2 draw against Simley on Saturday at Spartan Stadium to improve to 6-4-3 on the season.

Richfield used second-half goals from other than standout playmaker Xavier Klun and Anthony Estrada Cortez.

Klun, a junior, picked up his 22nd goal of the season in 12 games.

“He’s been on fire all year, just a clinical player for us,” Niday said. “Very good all year.”

He had a hat trick in a 5-1 win over Robbinsdale Cooper on Sept. 24. It was his fifth multiple-goal game. He scored four times against Cristo Rey Jesuit in a 4-0 win on Aug. 27 and four times in an 8-0 win over Brooklyn Center on Sept. 9.

Niday said the record could be better but feels the team has played very well in all but two matches, which is a positive sign for a team that is set on returning to the state tournament.

Richfield has six returners from last season, meaning the learning curve to get players acclimated to the style of play in the Tri-Metro Conference isn’t as steep.

Winning at Tri-Metro foe Columbia Heights 2-1 on Sept. 16, for the first time as conference opponents, was a big highlight for Niday so far.

“They came out early, and we fought back in the second half to get two goals in a perfect game,” Niday said as Klun scored both times. “Most teams have played such a high press against us. He is very good at finding space. We can usually counter and get the ball to him quickly when we win it.”

The current sophomore class has left its imprint on the lineup, with six players seeing regular varsity minutes, including midfielder Larry Hernandez. Juniors Nash Loftsgaarden and Brenden Smith have also left an impact.

The depth of the bench has allowed Niday to keep rotating fresh players when needed, and the program continues to be strong, with the return of a fourth team for the first time in a couple of years.

“We are only losing five seniors, so we are a very young program again in the off-season,” Niday said.

He said the team believes in itself, bringing that confidence to each match and another impressive conference run.

Kennedy

It was quite the week for Kennedy boys soccer, which continues to solidify its second-place position in the Tri-Metro Conference heading into the final week of the regular season.

The Eagles are 5-1-1 in the Tri-Metro, and the final is set for Tuesday at last-place Brooklyn Center (1-10-0 overall, 0-6-0 Tri-Metro).

Winners of the last four games and 5-of-6, the scoring comes in bunches, with Marlon Seahorn Jr. bringing his total to 23 goals in just 10 games.

Kennedy opened rivalry week with an emphatic 8-3 win over Jefferson at Bloomington Stadium on Sept. 23.

“This was our last game in the stadium as well. The last Classico is a sense,” Kennedy’s first-year head coach, Brayan Lopez, explained, adding a little more importance to the rivalry contest. “The game was back and forth, we’d score one, they’d score one in the first half, and we made a little more of a difference in the second half.”

Lopez wanted to see a more disciplined side in the second half, knowing Jefferson was capable of finding success against one of the state’s top programs (3-3 draw against Eastview on Sept. 3). “We had to stick to the game plan, and Junior Ontiveros Castillo was a big reason for that, bringing the fire game after game,” Lopez said.

Ontiveros Castillo had another huge performance, scoring two penalty kicks and adding two assists.

“This win means a lot to us, to win 8-3 against our rivals was big,” Ontiveros Castillo, a senior captain, explained.

Kennedy’s Josue Ayala Fuentes had one goal and one assist, while Augustin Arias, Jessey Estudillo Garcia, Seahorn Jr. and Josser Andres Chaves Bustos each added a goal. Chris Canas Ascencio and Ali Khidri added assists.

The Eagles added a 5-1 conference win over St. Anthony on Tuesday at Bloomington Stadium thanks to a four-point performance from Seahorn. The Eagles junior had a hat trick and one assist.

Jefferson

After starting September with a tie and two wins, Jefferson struggled to find scoring through the middle of the month, being limited to one goal in five losses.

The Jaguars scored five times in a pair of losses last week, including at Bloomington Stadium. They lost 8-3 to Kennedy on and 5-2 to Benilde-St. Margaret’s on Thursday.

Scoring against BSM were junior Sean Church and Edlphils Jarlebah.

Jaydon Singel, Glenn Garcia-Segovia, and Bryson Mwuara scored goals in the 3-3 draw against Eastview on Sept. 3.

Two days later, Jefferson handed Chanhassen a 2-1 defeat. Junior Malachi Anya scored both goals, assisted by Church and Theron Heng.

The return to Storm Stadium was the first for Szewczyk, who was the head coach in 2017-18, helping the Storm win its first Metro West Conference title and section wins at the Class AA level (2-1 overtime win against Eden Prairie and won a penalty shootout against Edina 5-4 after scoreless regulation and extra time sessions.

“Super nostalgic just walking down to the stadium and pulling up to it,” Szewczyk said as he worked in the district for a decade. “When I first moved from Connecticut, it was just after the recession when they built the high school. But I coached their captain in [track] hurdles and the A.D. [Mike Bailey] we coached together for years. Once we hit warmups with 40 minutes to go, it was like, ‘Right, here we go, this is what we are doing, here is what to watch for.’”

Jefferson capped off the busy week with a 4-0 win over Burnsville again on the Jaguars home turf.

This time, Anya collected a hat trick and one assist for a season-high four-point game. Freshman Titus Wolf added the other goal, with assists going to senior Caleb Bizal, sophomore Miguel Perez Paz and Church.

“We talked about being more patient on defense and more organized,” Jefferson’s new head coach, Tom Szewczyk, said after the win. “They are starting to understand the team strategies we are talking about bit by bit.”

Szewczyk said they made two lineup changes before the early success, moving Perez Paz into a central defensive midfielder role and Anya into a striker-leader role.

“Malachi has six goals in three games,” the coach said, scoring in multiple ways with numerous assists.

“There are things to work on, but the kids are starting to believe, ‘Oh yeah, this works. ‘”

Part of that successful strategy is closing down space when the ball is turned over to force the other team to make a quick, perhaps incorrect decision, which can translate into a turnover and, eventually, a scoring chance for Jefferson.

“We had one goal that took four or five touches to go from our 20-yard line, 80 yards down the field to score,” Szewczyk said. “Quick movement and moving the ball fast and three passes, two dribbles, and it is a goal.”

Jefferson shares seventh place with Chanhassen in the standings, matching 1-5-0 records (3 points). The Jaguars travel to conference leader St. Louis Park on Tuesday to finalize the Metro West standings. New Prague is just two points clear with a 1-3-2 record in sixth place. Jefferson wraps up the regular season on Thursday at Holy Angels in Richfield. The Stars (12-1-0) hold the top ranking in Class AA.

Follow Jason Olson on X @SunSportsJason