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By Nate Oxman
Shots were whizzing high and buzzing by both goals throughout Saturday’s PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal boys’ soccer match, but it was a ball that bounced softly toward Central Bucks East’s goal that proved to be the difference maker at West Chester East’s Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium.
A free kick from 25 yards out in the 69th minute somehow bounced through a handful of Patriots stationed in front of the goal and right to Father Judge forward Emmanuel Kollie, who headed the ball in to give the Crusaders a 1-0 win and clinched a spot in the state semifinals Tuesday against the winner of Unionville vs. Redland.
The hard-to-swallow loss ended a sensational season for the Patriots (18-7), a team many anticipated would take a step back following last year, in which they won the Suburban One Continental Conference, advanced to the district semis and finished fourth in the state.
“I think we surprised a ton of people not only with this season, but with this game,” said Patriots Coach Mike Gorni. “They are the number one team in Southeast Pa. They won their district. I think people just thought we would come in and try to counter what they did. But we matched them head to head the entire game.”
Father Judge, the champions out of District 12, stunned defending state champ Downingtown West, 1-0, on Tuesday.
The Patriots neutralized the Crusaders’ fast, physical forwards throughout the first half, forcing restarts to keep the likes of Kollie and fellow senior Daruis Gblunble out of striking distance.
They also used effective transitions into the offensive end to put pressure on Judge goalkeeper Chris Schwartz. The Patriots couldn’t capitalize on several scoring chances in the first 40 minutes, but appeared to take the lead in the 27th minute when an offsides call negated a goal off a direct kick by senior defender Ben Auteri.
“I think we played tremendous,” said Gorni. “We had a goal taken back in the first half. I still don’t really understand it. They called offsides on a shot from 50 yards in, which I don’t really understand. But the bottom line is we had numerous opportunities. We actually had better quality opportunities in the box than they did and we didn’t finish.”
One of those opportunities came when senior midfielder Alex Franco slipped by a defender and sent a left-footed shot that headed right for Schwartz, only to bounce off his chest before eventually being cleared.
It was a bounce that went the way of the Crusaders, similar to the fortuitous hop that led to Kollie’s game-winner.
“It’s difficult because you don’t know if a player is coming in to pick it up,” said Gorni of Kollie’s goal. “We’d like to think that we could get to the ball first, but we didn’t and it just kind of fell into the far post. It was probably one of the less powerfully-struck balls all day, but sometimes it’s the ball with a seeing eye that just finds its way in.”
It was one of only a few shots in the game for the dynamic Kollie, who was held in check throughout the contest, his only other legitimate shot coming on a rocket from 45 yards out that sailed a few feet over the goal midway through the first half.
“We knew they were going to be tough,” said East senior Ryan Apt. “I mean they just beat Downingtown West, the defending state champs, but we stuck with them. Our defense played amazing and we had some chances.”
Although the Patriots season came to a close Saturday, it was the play of a heady, hard-working group of seniors such as Apt who helped the Patriots achieve ample success this fall.
“They’ve all been very good,” said Gorni. “Our leadership this year, between Ryan Apt, Dan Christiansen, and Franny Miller - who are the three returning players -was tremendous. We got great seasons from Ben Auteri and Evan Franco. Alex Franco just picked up everything in the playoffs. He was absolutely terrific.
“Defensively, I don’t think anybody had as good of a backline and what people forget is that we lost so much in all of those Division I players and the reality of it is we let up 10 goals last year and with the goal we gave up today that’s 10 goals in 25 games, which is a credit to your goalkeeper. But the unsung heroes were [Matt] Macpherson, Auteri, Christiansen, and Steve Adams. Those four have just been rock solid.”
It was a tough task entering the season having to replace the likes of two-time first-team all-SOL Continental Conference keeper Jake Pickering, last year’s SOL Continental Player of the Year and all-state midfielder Sean Peckham, two-time first-team all-SOL Continental defender Michael Whitaker, two-time first-team all-SOL Continental forward Alex Shubert, and first-team all SOL Continental defenders John Owens and Chris Eisold, but the Patriots picked up right where those talented players left off.
“After losing a lot of D-I recruits last year, we were a little bit of an underdog in the league and we didn’t win the league, but we came in strong in the playoffs and made it back to states,” said Miller. “It was a real good effort by everyone.”
“We were able to accomplish some amazing things this year,” said Apt. “Nobody thought we’d be back here this year. We should be really proud of ourselves.”
FATHER JUDGE 1, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 0
Central Bucks East 0 0-0
Father Judge 0 1-1
FJ - Kollie from Morris, 69th minute
Shots: CBE-8, FJ-7
Saves: Donovan (CBE) 4, Schwartz (FJ) 4
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