Week of September 12, 2016 – Sometimes you just have one of those days . . . while your opponent has “one of those days” at the same time.
Thus was the contrast between Lansdale Catholic and Cardinal O’Hara in Tuesday’s Catholic League soccer contest.
From the fifth minute through late in the second half, LC’s offense was on fire, resulting in a 7-1 triumph. Senior Josh Yurasits contributed a Herculean four goals, a career-high, to lead the visiting Crusaders.
A laser shot by Yurasits’ off a feed from freshman Evan Senour started the rout. Noah Saba’s second goal of the game with 21 minutes remaining finished the scoring. In between were tallies by sophomore Matt McDonald, Yurasits again, Saba early in the second half, and two more by Yurasits.
Crusaders coach Joe Wilson was pleased to have an opportunity to extend quality playing time to his non-starters.
“Our league is so strong,” he said.
O’Hara coach Mike McDevitt acknowledged that fatigue “really caught up to us,” as the Lions were competing in their fourth game in five days.
“It definitely wasn’t the result we were expecting,” said McDevitt. “Our game plan worked well to begin the game, but a couple costly breakdowns really hurt us going into the half. Our 4th game in 5 days really caught up to us.”
St. Joe's Prep vs. Father Judge (15 Photos by Sal Tommassello)
The marquee game of the day saw Father Judge blank visiting St. Joseph’s Prep, 3-0. Before the game, the Crusaders honored Prep coach Jim Murray with a beautiful memento for his 50 years as the Hawks’ head honcho. Murray will retire at the end of the season.
“He’s a long-time friend of the Catholic League,” said Judge coach John Dunlop. “It was great (to win the game) but a better day for the Catholic League to honor such a great man and an icon for our league.”
After the ceremony and a scoreless first half, Father Judge got down to business. Matt Wade scored at the 15-minute mark. Three minutes later, Davis Habilaj doubled the lead, and Sean McCormick finished the scoring 10 minutes later.
Dunlop complemented both squads.
“It was a very good first half by both teams,” said Dunlop. “Both teams had chances but did not convert. We made some changes in the second half and it paid off.”
Interview with Father Judge's Sean McCormick
One of Father Judge's three goals
In Archbishop Wood’s 1-0 win over visiting Archbishop Carroll, a second-half goal by senior R.J. Liszewski off an assist from senior Mike Smith supplied the ammunition. Senior goalie Joe Cimino and his defense did the rest.
Arch. Wood vs Arch. Carroll (20 Photos by Katelyn Roman)
“It was a very hard fought game by both sides,” said Carroll coach Blaise Santangelo. “Our defense and played very well and our goalie, Jake Langley, made three big saves, but we could not generate enough on the offensive side.”
Wood senior Sean Harney said the Vikings respected their opponent’s capabilities.
“We knew they are one of the teams we have to beat in order to qualify for the district finals, so it was a big game for us,” said Harney. “We definitely controlled much of the play and had opportunities to add on to that one goal. But they gave us a good fight and we did what we had to do to win.”
(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com and on twitter @johnknebels.)