By Five Boro Sports
There were two huge questions surrounding the John Adams boys’ soccer team coming into this season: How would the defending PSAL Class B champion adjust to ‘A’ and how would they replace the scoring of current Rutgers freshman Samuel Archer?
The first query was answered right away: coach Alex Navarrete’s team was competitive in Queens A West from the beginning. The answer to the second question was cemented in the Spartans’ 2-1 win over first-place and previously undefeated Long Island City last Thursday in Ozone Park.
After coming close on three separate scoring chances, senior forward Alpha Dioubate, who played sweeper the past two years, made good in the 74th minute with his 11th goal of the year. It ended up being the game-winner.
“Sam Archer is gone, what are you gonna do?” Navarrete said he was asked. “I have Alpha. I said, ‘Alpha can play anywhere.’ He’s a great athlete.”
That athleticism has been plain to see the last three years when Dioubate was the Spartans’ sweeper. When Rutgers coaches came to scout Archer last year, they were also impressed with Dioubate’s play as Adams’ last man, Navarrete said.
The tall and speedy Dioubate’s only previous experience up front was with his Brooklyn Knights club team. But with the graduation of Archer, he needed to make the move to help the squad. The transition — much like the Spartans’ to Queens A West — has been seamless.
“He’s the best forward in the division,” said Navarette, whose team improved to 6-2-3 with the win. “He’s a player that defenders cannot keep up with.”
Added senior Matias Sartorio: “Our main target is Alpha — two touches and send it to him … No one can stop him.”
Dioubate scored once and had an assist against Long Island City (9-1-0) in the Bulldogs’ 3-2 win Sept. 23. This time, LIC was depleted. Coach Fernando Villegas’ team was missing five of its best players: leading goal scorer Peter Touros, Edwin Cano, Francisco Huinatl, Luis Guallpa and Wilber Maritnez. Villegas said the losses were due to injury.
“They’re a tough team,” Long Island City senior midfielder Carlos Auza said of Adams. “But that wasn’t our main team or else it would have been different.”
There’s no doubt that those five starters would have made a difference — especially up top. LIC’s lone goal came off a brilliant, booming set piece from sophomore sweeper Angel Martinez from 20 yards in the 44th minute. The presence of Touros, who has 11 goals and seven assists in only eight games, certainly could have changed the game.
But that’s to take nothing away from Adams, which is one of the few programs that has been able to make the transition from Class B to Class A look easy. The players said it is a credit to Navarrete.
“He told us the ‘A’ is not easy,” said Jose Ovando. “There are a lot of good players. We gotta work hard to get to the final again.”
Added Sartorio: “I think we can make it far. Our style of play is [to] never give up. We kill ourselves, that’s how [Navarrete] wants us to play.”
The coach knows his team is solid and could be a dark horse in the playoffs. But he’d be happy if the rest of the city didn’t know that.
“I wanna be the underdog,” Navarrete said. “I wanna be the Cinderella. Who is Adams?”
A lot of people will find that out in two weeks.
