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FHHS Boys Soccer Team Works To Prove Themselves In Tough Division

So far, team has struggled against strong opponents.

It was a long bus ride back to Forest Hills Wednesday night for the Rangers — who took a 7-0 beatdown from rival Bayside High School. Heading into yesterday’s game, Forest Hills High’s boys soccer team had been poised to move into a tie with the Commodores for second place in the league.

Halfway through the season, first-year coach Marvin Carbajal said his goals for his 3-3-1 team haven’t changed from day one. The top priority is still to make the playoffs. Next, he said, is “making the kids believe that they did enough to hang around in this league.”

At the start of the season Carbajal made some tweaks to the roster, moving some of last season’s defenders into what he hoped would be big scoring roles. Forest Hills opened Sept. 9 with a disappointing 6-2 loss to Bayside. “They are one of the top three teams in the division,” said Carbajal, adding clubs from Benjamin Cardozo and Francis Lewis to the list. The Rangers have gone 1-3 this year in matches against those top squads.

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The story of the season has been the team’s resilience. Forest Hills found their footing in games two and three, toppling Flushing High 6-3 and John Bowne 4-2. The team’s game four match-up against Martin Van Buren ended in a respectable 1-1 draw.

But just when the Rangers seemed to be on a roll, Francis Lewis handed them what Carbajal described as a 10-2 killing. “It was a very upsetting loss for us,” said Carbajal.

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Despite the blowout, he said the team learned something from the loss. “The kids never gave up in that game,” he said. “They kept scoring goals and never put their heads down.”

Carbajal gave the team a day off from practice to recover from the loss. “I said, ‘Come back the next day and we’ll pick it up from there,’” said the coach. And pick it up they did. In their next game, the Rangers responded by taking out Benjamin Cardozo 4-3.

“It was the biggest win of the season,” said Carbajal. Senior forward Shokhrukhm “Shox” Zakhidjonov netted a goal in the final minute to put the Rangers on top. As a defender, Zakhidjonov found the back of the net 10 times last season. Still, he saw himself as a defensive player, and Carbajal had to convince him that he had another calling.

“I said, ‘Listen, you have the height [he’s about 6 ft. 3], the speed, the ball control, and an incredible shot. There’s no way I’m putting you on defense.’” Zakhidjonov has already knocked in a dozen balls with five games left in the season. “Now he likes it and doesn’t want to go back to defense,” said Carbajal. “He’s like a shark who has smelled the blood."

The Rangers are also relying heavily on senior Freddy Ramirez, a defensive midfielder who has also switched positions since last season. Carbajal said the former defender has “come up very big for us.” Midfielder Esteban Cayado, team captain, and defensive midfielder Nicolas Rodriguez are also having strong seasons. Rodriguez’s first goal of the year contributed to the win against Cardozo.

Forest Hills will try to bounce back again Friday. The Rangers take on Flushing at Flushing Memorial Field at 5 p.m.

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