After finishing a perfect 11-0 campaign, Father Judge defeated eight-seed St. Joseph’s Prep, 3-0. Junior Mike Regan’s first-half goal turned out to be the game-winner. Successfully penalty kick conversions by seniors Abou Cherif and Kevin Castro put the game out of reach for the Prep, which had lost to the Crusaders by an identical score one week earlier.

“I don’t think the pressure is different because we are the top seed,” said Regan, whose goal was assisted by junior Juan Cocilano.  “We all know it’s win or go home. I think every team is thinking the same thing. Do everything you can do to get the win and move on.”

After a scoreless first half, Wood senior Albert Funk scored on a header off a corner feed. A penalty kick conversion by senior Enzo Petruzzelli finished the scoring. The win ended a two-game losing streak by the Vikings, though those losses were at Ryan and La Salle. 

“It definitely is a big confidence booster,” Wood senior Adrian Guerrero said. “After struggling towards the end of the season with injuries and overall poor performances, the win helped us realign mentally as well as regain confidence and remind us how good we can be. In the end it feels great to win, but the focus now is on the next game.”

After both teams traded regulation goals (junior Mark Mazzoni for La Salle in first half; senior Evan Hubert, assisted by sophomore Owen Adamow for Roman in second) for a 1-1 tie and neither could solve the other during two overtime sessions, the Explorers received successful PKs from junior Kaden Bono, sophomore Liam Connaghan, senior Matt Siravo, and Mazzoni. Senior goalie Ryan Kalup completed the survival by making two saves. 

“With the season and the high school career of the seniors on the line, we understood the significance of the moment and continued to work as hard as we could to end the game in overtime,” said Kalup, whose sensational save on a fully extended dive in the second half proved immense. “Roman was very organized and played extremely well to push it to PK’s.

The Raiders, who upended La Salle in last year’s semifinals en route to the PCL crown, were driven to the brink of defeat by six-seed Lansdale Catholic. But with the game scoreless early in the second overtime, freshman Adrian Cucalon contributed a very untypical freshman deed – scoring the game-winner to ignite a thunderous on-field celebration.

With standout sophomore Jack Stackhouse on the bench after receiving a yellow card, Cucalon entered in relief.

Though disappointed to watch from the side, Stackhouse lauded Ryan’s “young buck” for his mega-clutch quarterfinal winner. 

“Lansdale put up a good fight just like coach (Ryan Haney) said they would,” Stackhouse said. “They switched some of their guys and it worked out for them, making it harder than it was last time we played them (a 3-0 Ryan win). But we just needed to keep our heads up and keep fighting. When I got a yellow towards the end of the first overtime, I told Adrian that he would be the one to end this game and he could run right by them because he had fresh legs. Mo put in a great cross straight to Adrian.”