By Dylan Butler
A day before playing their first high school soccer game against each other and after some good-natured trash talking, close friends Carlos Moncaleano and Richie Lesmes made a pact: As soon as the game between rivals Long Island City and Newtown started, the Jackson Heights residents would leave their friendship on the sideline.
Moncaleano struck the first blow, taking Lesmes down in midfield. Throughout the game last Thursday at Newtown Athletic Field, the two highly competitive center midfielders yelled at each other — often in Spanish — during a heated match played in a steady rain.
“We were talking about it yesterday. As soon as we come here today, the friendship is off the field,” said Moncaleano, who plays with Lesmes on the Brooklyn Knights, a travel all-star team. “The whole game we were kicking each other. It was like man-on-man coverage, me vs. him.”
But when the game was over, and Moncaleano’s free kick in the 12th minute held up as the only goal in LIC’s 1-0 upset win over city powerhouse Newtown, the two met and hugged.
“During the game we were talking to each other, bothering each other, trying to mess each other’s games up, but at the end it’s all smiles,” said Lesmes, who played his second game for Newtown. “As soon as the whistle blew we just came over and said, ‘you know we still love each other.’ ”
Lesmes, one of the PSAL’s top players, was a marked man throughout the match, drawing a crowd of three and four players whenever he touched the ball. When he did manage to find some space, the crafty Lesmes was chopped down early and often.
Moncaleano also tasted his share of the grass during the chippy match, but he made the Pioneers pay for a foul 30 yards from goal in the 12th minute, beating keeper Francisco Gonzalez low inside the near post.
Moncaleano almost netted a second goal on another free kick later in the first half, but his shot sailed just high over the net.
“I was thinking about shooting it low because of the [wet] grass,” he said. “Since the field is really bad, I thought it would hit a bump and go over. The second one I was going to kick it again low, but I slipped on the mud.”
“I’ve never seen a player of his caliber, at least in my school,” LIC coach Alex Bravo said of Moncaleano. “He’s excellent, a full package. He likes to take control, that’s why he’s a captain this year.”
The emotional match boiled over in the 32nd minute when Newtown sophomore Andres Gonzalez received a red card for a retaliatory punch and the Pioneers, already trailing by a goal, were reduced to 10 men.
“They lost the game themselves. As soon as Andres got thrown out of the game, the game was totally different,” said Newtown coach Howie Ranzer. “Playing 10 on 11, I thought we did pretty well, but they’re kids, they make mistakes and you have to live with it.”
Newtown (2-1, 1-1 Queens A West) had numerous scoring chances in the second half but couldn’t find a way to put the ball in the net.
“Two open nets, we couldn’t put the ball in,” Ranzer said. “We’re the better team, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
For Moncaleano and Long Island City (2-0 Queens A West), the win was a huge step toward gaining some respectability in a very tough division.
“I heard they have the best team, they were talking that Richie was coming in as the new best player,” Moncaleano said. “Everyone was saying they were going to destroy us. But we showed them, we were just coming here hoping for a tie but then we got a better result.”
Bayside 4, Forest Hills 2. John Levy netted a hat trick and David Salazar added a goal for Bayside (2-0-3, 2-0-1 Queens A East) while Jose Batista scored both goals for Forest Hills (1-2 Queens A East).
Francis Lewis 3, Flushing 3. Troy Peaceman tied the game at 3 with four minutes left for Francis Lewis (0-1-1 Queens A East), who also received a pair of goals from Ho Sung Yoo. David Rojas, Jesus Uzhca and Mohammad Mashriqi scored for Flushing (1-1-1 Queens A East).
Campus Magnet 4, Springfield Gardens 1. Keon Bobb netted a second half hat trick and Barrington Mighty added a fourth goal for Campus Magnet (1-1 Queens B South).
Hillcrest 5, Queens Vocational 0. Demetre Vernon and Andre Reeves each scored a pair of goals for Hillcrest (2-1 Queens B North).
Richmond Hill 6, Beach Channel 2. Olegario Garzon had a hat trick, Diego Perdomo scored a pair of goals and Derrick McCormack added three assists for Richmond Hill (1-0 Queens B South).
Far Rockaway 2, Campus Magnet 1. Far Rockaway keeper Dwayne Kellyman scored a pair of penalty kicks for the SeaHorses (2-0) in a battle of two of the top teams in Queens B South.
Grover Cleveland 5, John Adams 1. Ergyn Lame had two goals and an assist and Madalin Niculae had a goal and an assist, while Rafael Jara and Kreshni Sadiku added goals for Cleveland (1-0-1 Queens A West). Adams dropped to 0-2 in Queens A West.
Aviation 4, Bryant 2. Fabian Arias, Flavio Calle and Juan Torres scored for Aviation (1-1 Queens A West), while Bryant fell to 0-1 in Queens A West.
Thomas Edison 8, Queens Vocational 1. Jose Canales and Francisco Gongora each had two goals and an assist for Edison (2-0 Queens B North), while Kenny Mejia netted Queens Vocational’s first ever goal.
Jamaica 4, Arts and Business 2. Theodore Toussant netted a hat trick and Richard Reynolds added a goal for Jamaica (2-0 Queens B North), which rallied from a 2-1 halftime deficit to score three second half goals. Arts and Business drops to 0-2 in Queens B North.
John Bowne 5, Flushing 2. Carlos Llanos netted two goals and Mike Alpers added a goal and an assist for Bowne (1-1 Queens A East), while Diego Garcia scored two goals for the Red Devils.
Forest Hills 4, Francis Lewis 2. Batista had a goal and an assist and Michael Moncada added a goal for Forest Hills, which took a 3-1 lead. After Francis Lewis pulled within 3-2, Ilia Durakovic stopped a penalty kick with 10 minutes left in the game and Denba Gassama added a breakaway insurance goal for the Rangers.
Bayside 2, Cardozo 2. The host Judges (1-0-1 Queens A East) jumped ahead 2-0 on goals by Manny Mananikas and Steve Park, but the Commodores answered back with a pair of goals by senior Gerald Prophete to tie the score at 2. Prophete missed a chance to ice the game for the Commodores when he missed a penalty kick late in the second half.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
