BOYS SOCCER: Nothing Comes Easy For PCL Opponents

By John Knebels

(Photos by Donna Eckert, Kathy Leister & Zack Beavers for PSD)

PHILADELPHIA – One of the most startlingly consistent occurrences in a sport that involves a goalie is when a tremendous save leads to a game-winning goal shortly thereafter.

Case in point: Roman Catholic’s 3-2 Philadelphia Catholic League double-overtime victory over Archbishop Ryan this past Friday night.

About one minute after Roman junior netminder Hector Ortiz thwarted a close-in scoring attempt to keep the game tied, the Cahillites moved up field and set up along the right wing. Junior Max Durso then booted a well-placed ball toward the middle where junior teammate Shane Lachawiec, trusting his instincts and overall knowhow, re-directed the attempt into the net.

Considering the previously undefeated opponent who coming into the game had only allowed two goals in six games, Lachawiec’s first-ever overtime winner couldn’t have been much bigger.

“This goal was very important to the team and me,” said Lachawiec, who also contributed an earlier assist. “Before the goal, Hector made the best save of the game. That save gave us the momentum to win this game.

“This was the biggest goal I have ever scored. I saw a gap in the defense, so I took the chance and ran through it. When I received the cross from Max, I just had the instinct to shoot it and watched it go in. When we all celebrated, it was a very hype moment.”

Ortiz described the game-winning sequence.

“It was very nerve-racking to say the least,” said Ortiz. “That whole game was just back-and-forth. And the whole time, all that was going through my head was that we needed to win. I needed to do everything I can to keep my team in this game. Then watching us win was very satisfying.”

While the Raiders (6-1) suffered their first loss, Roman Catholic won their second straight and improved to 4-2-1, with both defeats coming by one goal.

Roman Catholic makes late goal in OT to win in game vs. Archbishop Ryan. (VIdeo courtesy/VEO)

Roman coach Ray DeStephanis admitted that some victories feel better than others.

“It’s no secret that in any league, there are matches you circle on the schedule,” he said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ramping up for the best team in the league. It can be a team you’ve had history with in the past, or maybe a coach or player left your program and went elsewhere.

“Of course, you go out with a chip on your shoulder. But if you don’t harness that energy properly, it can work against you quickly. Every player and coach knows what game means the most to them, but in the end, three points is three points no matter who you play.”

Father Judge (5-2) ran their winning streak to four with a key 2-1 victory at Conwell-Egan. Senior Joseph Kennedy’s unassisted tally gave the Crusaders a 1-0 lead. With 10 minutes left in regulation, junior Ethan Delgado took a feed from sophomore Luke McGonigle and broke the deadlock.

“It was a nice win on the road,” said Father Judge coach John Dunlop. “Egan is a good team and very tough to play at home. The game was a battle on both sides of the ball.”

Despite the defeat, Conwell-Egan (6-1) emerged focused on what has all the makings of a bright future. The Eagles had won three one-goal games before losing in the same vein.
“We are playing with the attitude that we know we can win the PCL this year,” said Conwell-Egan senior Tyler Schmitt. “Over these past four years of playing for the school, we have gotten better and better. Our chemistry is at an all-time high right now, and if we keep what we have right now for the rest of the season, I think we can beat anyone.”

Remaining perfect through eight games and riding an 18-game PCL winning streak dating back to last year’s third PCL title in four years and fifth in seven, La Salle has captured three double-overtime road wins over Father Judge, Roman Catholic, and Archbishop Wood.

Three current playoff teams await Explorers during the final two weeks of the regular season.

“Right now, I feel like it’s just been taking each game one at a time,” said La Salle senior Mark Mazzoni. “The thing we focus on is going 1-0 in the next match. All the guys really are on the same page about this and keep the mentality of focusing on the next game throughout the season. This has benefitted us to keep working hard on and off the field and to keep winning games.”

With such a winning tradition, La Salle clearly represents a pseudo-playoff encounter regardless of their opponent.

“Honestly to us that is not what we focus on,” said Mazzoni. “We know teams can come into games like this, but we focus only on what we can control. That is playing our brand of soccer and not letting our opponents control the game.”

La Salle in game vs. Roman on 9/20 (Photos by Kathy Leister for PSD)

La Salle vs. Roman in double OT victory on 9/20. (video by Kathy Leister for PSD)

Halting a rare 0-2-1 slide that included one-goal losses to Ryan and St. Joseph’s Prep, and a tie with Roman Catholic, Lansdale Catholic (4-2-1) overwhelmed Archbishop Wood, 4-0, handing the Vikings (5-3) their third straight loss.

Seniors Damien Fanelli, Callum Feite, Peter Cusumano, and sophomore Milan Jagielnicki supplied the offense.

“Our last three games in the PCL had been particularly frustrating for us as a team,” said Lansdale Catholic coach Casey Farrell. “We felt like we had good opportunities to win all three of those games. We knew that if we didn’t come out firing on all cylinders against Wood, we were going to lose another one.

“Milan Jagielnicki really helped set the tone for the rest of the team. He was just so incredibly active from the jump and ripped one off the crossbar early that we all thought was going in. I think it fired everyone up, like we all knew it was only a matter of time before he was gonna get one for us. The boys fed off his energy. And once he scored that first goal, the team only got hungrier. It felt good after three heartbreakers in a row. I was so proud of the whole team’s performance. Just a solid team win all around.”

Conwell-Egan in game vs. Wood at Cairn University on 9/20. (Photos by Donna Eckert for PSD)

Archbishop Ryan vs. Lansdale Catholic - PSD Photos by Zack Beavers

St. Joseph’s Prep (5-2) has snared three straight wins, including 1-0 decisions over Lansdale Catholic and Devon Prep.

Hawks’ coach Johnny McIntyre raved about his back line of junior Will Powers, junior Evan Hoffman, senior Drew Reeves, and sophomore Will Voegle as being the “rock of the team.” He also extolled goalie sophomore Franny Semon, labeling him as “one of the top keepers in the league.”

SJP junior Timmy Comey’s blast from 25 yards out with six minutes left prevented overtime against Devon Prep.

“I felt we controlled the majority of the game,” said McIntrye. “We had multiple chances to score, we missed a penalty kick, we had crosses into the box but just couldn’t get on the end of them, and we hit the post on a corner. (Senior) Matty Reeves, offensively in the second half, was giving Devon Prep fits. He was our most dangerous player. Give my boys credit, though. They just kept coming at Devon.”

Although Devon Prep is 2-6, the Tide has given teams fits, but can’t find key goals to claim wins. They have dropped four one-goal decisions, and the loss to the Prep ended a two-game winning streak.

“Coach (Jamile) Greene has Devon Prep playing well,” said McIntyre. “They battled all night and had a chance under a minute left to tie it, but Franny came up big for us.”

PCL Standings (Through September 30)

8-0 La Salle

6-1 Conwell-Egan

6-1 Archbishop Ryan

5-2 St. Joseph’s Prep

5-2 Father Judge

5-3 Archbishop Wood

4-2-1 Roman Catholic

4-2-1 Lansdale Catholic

2-5 Cardinal O’Hara

2-6 Devon Prep

0-7 Neumann-Goretti

0-8 Archbishop Carroll

0-8 Bonner-Prendergast

(Contact John Knebels at jknebels@gmail.com or on ‘X’ @johnknebels.)