Photos/Videos: Kathy Leister & Donna Eckert

By: John Knebels

PHILADELPHIA – With the halfway point of the season somehow already approaching Catholic League boys’ soccer, a host of competitive games begin this weekend.

The pending drama comes not a moment too soon.

Thus far, there have an exorbitant number of lopsided blowouts – 19 of the 30 PCL games have been decided by margins of four or more goals, compared to only nine games of one goal or zero – than contests requiring copious tension.

The most anticipated event of the regular season – the annual Play Day on September 14, when all but one PCL squads met on the same day but at two different locations 34 miles apart – sort of symbolized the disparate league standings that currently includes five undefeated teams at the top, and four winless teams at the bottom. The six winning teams outscored their foes by 25 to 2.

Junior Shane Lachawiec netted a hat trick in Roman Catholic’s 8-0 victory over Archbishop Carroll, which offset two cliffhangers at Father Judge High School. In the marquee event – a rematch of last fall’s PCL final – the host Crusaders dropped a 3-2, double-overtime decision to defending champion La Salle. Another close encounter saw Archbishop Ryan edge St. Joseph’s Prep, 1-0.

In the La Salle win, Tommy Regan’s second goal of the game in the second overtime kept the Explorers (now 5-0) unblemished. Mark Mazzoni’s goal and two assists proved to be integral. Liam Connaghan and Finn Murray’s defense stood out.

Father Judge (now 2-2) scored off the opening tap before a strong 10-minute stretch by La Salle produced goals by Regan and Mazzoni. Undaunted, Father Judge tied the game with 1:35 left remaining in regulation. Regan then scored the winner in the second extra session.

“I think the biggest part of Saturday for our squad was being resilient after going down early in the second half and then having the game tied up with 90 seconds left in regulation,” said La Salle coach Tom McCaffery. “The guys battled and found a way to win. These types of good battles through the PCL season make teams sharper for October.”

Keeping Archbishop Ryan perfect through five games, the Raiders’ 1-0 win over St. Joseph’s Prep ended on Shawn Dixon’s goal with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation. A perfect corner feed from Owen Haney set up Dixon for a well-placed header. 

“Chances were at a minimum,” said Ryan coach Ryan Haney, whose back line of Dom Lewandowski, Colin Hart, Aiden Goldberg, Haney, and Dixon frustrated the Hawks. “Lot of credit to (Prep coach John McIntyre). His kids played a well-organized, tough game.” 

McIntyre, the first-year Prep coach, lauded his troops despite the defeat. Like Ryan, the Prep received strong play from back liners Will Powers, Evan Hoffman, Drew Reeves, and Will Voegle. Midfielder Timmy Comey was all over the field, winning loose balls and helping the Hawks gain possession.

Two days earlier, the Hawks had pulled off an epic 2-1, double-overtime victory over Father Judge, with both goals tallied by Matty Reeves.

“I thought the boys came out a little slow the first 20 minutes, but we were able to keep it to being down 1-0 at half,” said McIntyre. “We just kept telling the boys to stick to what we had been doing all game. The longer it stayed that way, we were going to get our chances. We started to take control of the game midway through the second half. In overtime, we thought our fitness wore them down.”

At Cardinal O’Hara High School, while Conwell-Egan (now 5-0) upended the host Lions, 4-0, and Archbishop Wood coasted past Bonner-Prendergast, 8-0, Lansdale Catholic edged Devon Prep, 1-0 when Callum Feite scored off a beautiful cross pass from Nikhil Cyriac.

“Any time you play a PCL opponent, no matter who it is, you know it’s going to be a hard fought battle from start to finish,” said Lansdale Catholic coach Casey Farrell. “Devon Prep always gives us problems year in and year out, so it was important for us to overwhelm them with our work rate from the jump and hopefully score first. Thankfully, we did just that.

“We played relentlessly on both sides of the ball and put away a nice goal in the 21st minute.”

Though pointless over their first five games, Devon Prep – largely aided by goalie Braeden Fisher – has been more than competitive against Conwell-Egan (4-3), Archbishop Wood (2-1), and Lansdale Catholic (1-0), a trio whose combined record is 13-0-1.

“We knew this would be a transition year but that, if healthy, we could make some noise, but we haven’t been all season,” said Devon Prep coach Jamile Green, who played a combined 13 freshmen and sophomores in the loss against LC. “The boys are working hard trying to grow and better themselves.”

On a game re-scheduled from September 20 to September 19, Devon Prep (1-5) picked up their first win, defeating Bonner-Prendergast (0-6).

On September 17, Lansdale Catholic and Roman Catholic battled to a 1-1 finish, the only tie of the PCL season. Roman went up 1-0 at the midpoint of the first half on an unassisted goal by Vincenzo Harwood. Lansdale Catholic tied the game with 12 minutes left in the second half on the first goal of the season by Chris Monahan, assisted by the aforementioned Cyriac – his sixth of the season to go along with four goals.

As for Friday’s games . . . A pair of 5-0 teams – Conwell-Egan and Archbishop Wood – will meet under the lights at Cairn University. Junior varsity plays at 6:15; varsity follows at 8 . . . Another location change has Father Judge (2-2) hosting Neumann-Goretti (0-4) at 3:45 . . . At 7:00, Lansdale Catholic (3-0-1) tries to stay undefeated at Archbishop Ryan (5-0) . . . At 7:00, Roman Catholic (2-1-1) hosts La Salle . . . At 7:00, Archbishop Carroll (0-5) visits St. Joseph’s Prep  (2-2).

(John Knebels can be reached via email at jknebels@gmail.com or on ‘X’ @johnknebels.)