LACROSSE: NO. 19 ARCHBISHOP CURLEY OVERCOMES JOHN CARROLL, 5-3

 by Lem Satterfield

(see videos below)

If you ask Archbishop Curley coach Joe Latona, losing to Orchard Park of New York on Sunday was good for his Friars, who are ranked 19th in the DigitalSports Top 20.

"It was a cold day, which actually benefitted them because they're coming from Upstate New York, but they were a big, physical team and just out-horsed us," said Latona, whose Friars went 18-1 last season on the way to winning the MIAA B Conference title.

"They went on a run in the third period and we couldn't make up the difference," Latona said. "It helped us with our level of intensity, and we saw what it means not to win. You've got to give that extra effort, but we didn't have it on Sunday like we had it today."
 
Latona spoke while standing on Archbishop Curley's campus following Friday's come-from-behind, 5-3 victory over league rival John Carroll, which lost for the first time this season.

"In a way, you know, it kind of feels like we had to lose a game just to know what it feels like. To have intensity," said Friars' junior midfielder Peter Lee.

"They [Orchard Park] had a lot of intensity, they had a lot of heart, and they were hustling a lot more than we were," Lee said. "All we had to do was to go out and match that intensity today, and then we did, and we came out on top."

Friday's win over the the Friars' previously unbeaten MIAA B Conference rival from Harford County came against a Patriots squad that is now 5-1 both in the league and overall.

The Patriots are not only a threat to dethrone the Friars as league champs, but the two teams will meet again on May 6.

Lee and senior attackman Brandon Capelletti led the Friars with two goals and one assist each, as they overcame an early two-goal deficit, received a fine effort in the goal from Mike Lioi with 10 saves, and improved their league winning streak to 21 consecutive games while also winning for the 27th time in their past 29 outtings.

The Friars' defensive unit concentrated on its matchups: Justin Gordan on Archer, and Alex Kelly, "our sophomore defender, he matched up with one of their better shooters who took some of their better shots," Lioi said.

"Coach pulled me aside and said, 'Let's play our game, slow them down, don't try to do too much, and to just have the slides ready when they're there,'" said Friars' defender Dave Manik, whose game was tied at 2-2 at halftime.

"I came off around the third quarter after I got hurt," Manik said. "And Dessie Jones, our fourth man on 'D,' he came in and got some huge checks and hurt their transition to help us to get possession."

The Friars trailed, 2-0, following goals by the Patriots' Graham Archer (one goal, one assist) and Mike Wilson -- the latter off of an assist by Seth Hinder -- within the game's first three minutes before scoring five unanswered times and holding a four-goal lead with 5:08 to play.

"We knew it was going to be a tight game, and we were a little tense at first. But after the first quarter, we really loosened up and we gave our offense a chance to settle down," said Lioi, whose teammates, Ben Kimbel and Kevin Ruth had assists.

"We picked our matchups carefully," Lioi said, "and then we really played hard."

The Friars' last of three third-quarter goals came as Jeff Taylor converted a pass from Eric Seglinski, but it was answered, quickly, by the Patriots' Luke Phipps off of Archer's assist with 4:14 to play.

"We had our opportunities, but their goalie made a fantastic kick save, and he had one off of the thigh," said Patriots' coach Keith Hinder, referring to how Lioi withstood two extra man opportunities for the Patriots as the Friars improved their record to 7-0 in league play, and to 9-1 overall.

"They came up big in the fourth quarter and beat us and it's something we're going to have to work on because we'll see them again in the future and hopefully, we'll win the next," said Hinder, whose Patriots had not played in nearly two weeks.

"We've got to get our offense clicking a little better. We were a little bit slow to the ball, with a little bit of indecision with some things we wanted to do on the offensive end. Our riding needs to be picked up a little bit more," Hinder said.

Hinder credited senior goalie Stephen Farrell for his play, which was comprised of 16 saves -- many of which came during the third quarter when the Friars won the majority of the possessions, but came up empty.

"Stephen had a great game. Stephen's been on the team since he was a sophomore. He had a fantastic day today. We really wanted to limit them to shooting from the outside, which we feel that we did really, really well today," Hinder said.

"We feel we really did a good job on their big star, Capaletti. He had some goals and all, but for the most part, we did a really nice job there," Hinder said. "We kept him, for the most part, shooting from the outside. And Stephen made some saves that he was supposed to make, and at the end, we just fell a little short."



Archbishop Curley  5,  John Carroll 3

John Carroll                        2                       0                            0                          1                              3

Archbishop Curley                0                       2                            0                          3                              5

Goals: J- Archer, Wilson, Phipps. AC- Lee 2, Capaletti 2, Taylor. Assists: J- Hinder, Archer. AC- Kimball, Capaletti, Ruth, Lee. Saves: J- Farrell 16. Lioi 10

Half: 2-2