The turning point for North Bergen came deep into the second set, but not necessarily at an unexpected time.
Already leading by one set, the Bruins (9-4) trailed by three points and their opponent on the other end, Kearny (9-6), needed just one more point to force a third and final set.
But point by point, the Bruins chipped away at that deficit, which was its largest of the game. It shrunk and shrunk and shrunk until it was no more. In the blink of an eye, North Bergen hadn’t just turned, but flipped the tables on its Hudson County rival to pull even, and eventually ahead.
North Bergen’s late comeback proved to be the difference maker down the stretch as the Bruins defeated the Kardinals in two sets for a key HCIAL victory.
Entering Monday’s game, the Bruins sat in second place in the American division and were just one game behind the first place Kardinals. With the win on Monday night, the Bruins ended up splitting the regular season series with the Kardinals and jumped it for first place in the American.
“It’s a big win,” North Bergen coach Damien Vasquez said. “Every time we play Kearny it’s always a battle that ends in three sets or a two-set marathon. It’s a good test because we’re expecting to play Union City if they win on Wednesday. All these games in Hudson County, generally the level of play has increased over the last few years. There’s about five, six, seven, eight teams that are all hot and they could all win it. This was certainly a good test today.”
The race for first place in the HCIAL is as tight of a race in the state right now. North Bergen and Kearny are currently holding down the top two spots but not far behind in third and fourth places are Bayonne (9-6) and Union City (9-4). All four of those teams are separated by one game in the conference standings. Like Vasquez talked about, there’s the chance that in the quarterfinal round of Hudson County Tournament the fourth-seeded Bruins play fifth-seeded Union City on Friday.
Another likely matchup looks like the third-seeded Kardinals against the sixth-seeded Bees also on Friday in the quarterfinals.
This story will be updated.
Donovan Hugel can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @donohugel.
Greg Patuto can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @GregPatuto.
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