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BOYS' SOCCER: PCL Boys Soccer Round-Up And All Catholic Lists

By John Knebels, 10/25/16, 5:30PM EDT

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PHILADELPHIA – Roman Catholic remains very much alive as it attempts to defend its Catholic League championship.

  The Cahillites, however, came dangerously close to being eliminated in the quarterfinals October 21 against a dangerous Lansdale Catholic squad.

   That’s when junior Jared Fielding came to the rescue.

   With the first overtime winding down, Fielding scored the goal of his life, a sudden-death tally that severed a scoreless tie in front of a sizeable crowd at Lighthouse Field. Needless to say, it’s a moment Fielding will never forget.  

   “Scoring that goal meant a lot to me,” said Fielding. “Before the overtime started, I was looking around at the faces of some of the seniors and could tell some of them were nervous considering that could have been their last game of their high school careers. So when the whistle blew for it to begin, I knew I had to step up my game and get this win for my team, especially the seniors.”

   Roman coach Ray DeStephanis was classy in victory.

   “What can you say about Lansdale Catholic?” he said. “The last four or five years now they've really come at us hard just about every time we played them. So, in essence, it wasn't a gigantic surprise that they took us right down to the wire and deep into the first overtime. They're a very big team, they have talent, and they're coached very well.”

 The Cahillites, who finished as a third seed despite going undefeated against the Catholic League in the regular season (8-0-3 league), will face second-seed Father Judge Wednesday at the United German-Hungarian Club. Behind two goals by Sean McCormick and one by Davis Habilaj,  the Crusaders dispelled Archbishop Carroll, 3-0, on October 21 at RAMP Playground and are one win away from advancing to the league final for the second straight season.

 “We played well against a good Carroll team,” said Judge coach John Dunlop. “I feel very confident where the team is at right now."

   Judge lost to Roman in last year’s final.

   “We need to match their intensity because they apply a lot of pressure all over the field,” said Dunlop. “People are making a big deal about last year’s game. For us that was last year, and this year is a different team.

   “We are healthy and focused on what we need for the game Wednesday. It's going to be a great game by both schools.”

Roman Catholic senior co-captain Matt Flanagan (along with teammates Artie Dolan, Seth Stangler, and Kieran Flaherty) described Lansdale Catholic as “tough” and “very structured,” but knows that the next challenge figures to even more difficult.

   “We were determined to keep our season going,” said Flanagan. “This next game versus Judge is the biggest game. We really have to focus and come to play.  They are very tough and have very talented players. We just have to come out to play.”

   Flanagan said the expectations for a defending champion tend to be a bit daunting.


Roman vs. SJP

“It’s a great feeling, but it also means we have a target on our back,” said Flanagan. “There is no easy game. Everybody wants to plays us. They all want to come out and beat the defending champions and make a statement to the league. It is a lot of pressure. We just have to put that aside and play our game.”

   Like Roman Catholic, shutout goaltending and strong defense helped power Archbishop Wood past Archbishop Ryan, 4-0, on October 21. The Vikings will meet top-seed La Salle October 26 at the United German-Hungarian Club. The Explorers beat St. Joseph’s Prep, 2-0.

Wood turned a 1-0 lead at halftime into a route, buoyed by Mike Smith’s three goals, three R. J. Liszewski’s three assists, and a combined shutout by Joe Cimino (seven saves, several difficult) and Connor Ford (two). 

 

(John Knebels can be reached at jknebels@gmail.com or on Twitter @johnknebels.)

See below for All-Catholic lists:  

2016 1ST TEAM ALL CATHOLIC

*SPENCER PATTON            LA SALLE           SR.            FWD.

*SEAN MCCORMICK            JUDGE               SR.            FWD.

ARTHUR DOLAN                  ROMAN              SR.            DEF.

R.J LISZEWSKI                    WOOD                SR             MF

JARED DILLON                    ROMAN              SO.            FWD

MIKE SMITH                         WOOD                SR.            FWD

JOSH YURASITS                  LANSDALE         SR.            MF   

JOHN LODISE                      JUDGE               SR.            DEF 

SEAN PALMER                     RYAN                  SR.            DEF 

JAMES HUGHES                   LA SALLE          SR.            DEF 

VITO VINCENT                     CARROLL           SR.           DEF 

CHRIS HIBBS                       SJ PREP            SR.            FWD

GEORGE MONTAG             RYAN                 JR.             MF   

NOAH SABA                          LANSDALE        SR.            FWD

DAVIS HABILAJ                    JUDGE              SR.            DEF 

BRETT WERNER                  LA SALLE          JR.             GK   

(* - denotes ALL-STATE) 

2016 2ND TEAM ALL CATHOLIC

ZACH HOGAN                                    LA SALLE            SR.            FWD

ANDREW MARKOPOULOS                BONNER             SO.            DEF

MATT FLANAGAN                               ROMAN              SR.            MF

MATT COSTANZO                              EGAN                 SR.            FWD

SEAN HARNEY                                    WOOD                SR.            DEF

THEO IJEBOI                                       BONNER            SR.            FWD

SETH STANGLER                               ROMAN              SR.            DEF

DAN EHRLICH                                  MCDEVITT                  SR.            MF

ADAM NORK                                       JUDGE               SR.            MF

CHARLIE SHEEHAN                            O’HARA              JR.             DEF

COLIN DONNELLY                              PREP                  SR.            DEF

SAM FREDERICK                                CARROLL          SR.            DEF

WILLIAM STACKHOUSE                     RYAN                  JR              FWD

MATT NOTI                                         LANSDALE         SR.            MF

MIKE D’ANGELO                                 LA SALLE           SR.            MF

JACK KANE                                         LANSDALE         SR.            GK

2016 3RD TEAM ALL- CATHOLIC

KEVIN CONROY                RYAN                  SR.            MF

ED SLOAN                         WOOD                SR.            MF

KAITO KITAZAWA             BONNER            JR              MF

JARED FIELDING              ROMAN              JR              MF

MIKE POWER                    JUDGE               SR.            FWD

KIERAN FLAHERTY          ROMAN              SR.            FWD

ANTHONY BOYLE             LA SALLE           SR.            MF

NICK BOOTH                     CARROLL            JR.            FWD

DYLAN ULSHAFER           JUDGE               SR.            MF

JOE NESTEL                     BONNER            SR.            DEF

CONOR BATTIN                PREP                  SR.            DEF

SEAN KEARNEY                CARROLL           SO.            DEF

JAMES NATALE                LA SALLE           SR.            DEF

KYLE BUDGICK                 O’HARA              JR.             MF

JOE DUDDY                      MCDEVITT                  SR.            DEF

TJ CORCORAN                 JUDGE               SR.            GK