By Mike Zummo
The first time the James I. O’Neill Raiders hosted the annual Jimmy Ranieri Tournament, they didn’t have a good showing, losing both games.
This year, they flipped the script, winning the tournament championship on Saturday with a 6-1 win over the Highland Huskies at James I. O’Neill High School.
“It’s just super exciting,” said Bryce Kenny, who scored two goals in the game, and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. “We’ve all worked so hard the whole season.
I’m just so proud of everything, from getting up early to practice, staying late to practice, we’ve all put in the work for it. I think we deserved it more than anybody else.”
Jimmy Ranieri graduated from O’Neill in 1992, and died on March 13, 2021, from pancreatic cancer. He was a four-sport athlete, but soccer was his best sport.
“We started this tournament last year,” O’Neill coach Ken Hall said. “Jimmy was a dear friend of mine, a former teammate, so any time we could do something special for him and the family, we definitely took advantage of it. (His father), Jim Ranieri was my soccer coach, got me involved in sports. So, any way we can recognize them is a special time for us.”
Last year’s tournament didn’t go the way the Raiders wanted it to, as they lost both games to a fourth-place finish. This year, they wanted better.
“It’s great to get a trophy for not only your coaches that have been wanting it, but for us,” Kenny said. “We want it. We’re coming for sections this year. We’ve been talking about it. It’s been one of my goals, and one of the team goals since forever. I think we’re ready this year.”
The Raiders struggled to find the back of the net early in the game, but in the 21st minute, senior captain Johnny Nauta’s goal put them on the board for the first time.
Nauta was named to the all-tournament team.
“Johnny had a good tournament,” Hall said. “We’re moving him between up top and out wide. He can adapt to a lot of different places. Last year, he got a ton of minutes for us in a lot of different places. I’m really happy that he’s able to shine this year.”
Less than a minute later, senior captain Ben Yankovich added another, giving the Raiders a 2-0 lead.
“I feel like I was a little more composed,” Kenny said. “I feel like the team was, as well, and then from then on, we just believed in each other. That’s what we’ve been doing this whole season, just believing each other, and moving from there.”
Kenny scored his first goal of the game in the 32nd minute. He also added the Raiders’ sixth goal late in the second half.
“He has a ton of energy,” Hall said. “He literally seems like he’s all over the field. He can go forward and score goals. He can slow us down in the midfield. When there’s nothing there, he’s patient enough to involve our defense so we can get the buildup going again. He’s just high energy for 80 minutes.”
Senior captain Jacques Farlow added a goal in the 45th minute to send the Raiders into halftime leading, 4-0.
Five minutes into the second half, Erick Guzhnay gave the Raiders a 5-0 lead.
In the 50th minute, Highland’s Skyler Lopez scored the Huskies’ lone goal. He was named to the all-tournament team.
The Raiders opened the tournament with a 9-1 win over the Port Jervis Raiders on Thursday.
“From the beginning of the season, we looked a little rough,” Kenny said. “But we’ve been putting in the work, making sure the kids are getting better. There are some kids that haven’t played before on this team. We’ve been growing them and now they’re starting games. It’s just how you start from training and keep moving into the games, and then we keep moving into sections and postseason.”