by Pat McGuire ’14
The most controversial officiating call this October may not have come in Game 3 of the World Series after all. After exhausting two overtime periods, Saint Edward defeated the #1 seed Saint Ignatius during penalty kicks after a kick that photos show striking the inside goal post was ruled no good.
Saint Ignatius and Saint Edward met for the third consecutive year in a district final match. Last year, the Eagles bested the ‘Cats in penalty kicks on their own home field, and in the previous year, the Wildcats defeated the Eagles on a “golden goal” game winner from Nate Fahey. This season’s district final seemed to be no different than last year’s.
Coach Mike McLaughlin’s Wildcats entered with the number one seed, while the Eagles garnered the second seed. This match could not have started worse for the Wildcats: a foul in the box resulting in a penalty kick. Braden Davies, a senior cocaptain for the Eagles, buried his PK a mere seventeen seconds into the match.
Early on it seemed as though the Eagles controlled all the momentum, but the Wildcats responded with a second-half goal off the head of Matt Nigro. The pass came from a cross by senior co-captain Colin Cleary, and Nigro snuck it past the Eagle keeper. That header from Nigro knotted the score at one in the second half, which would carry all the way until the end of regulation.
The match was gritty and tough from the get-go, with both teams rapidly accumulating both yellow cards and fouls. With the score tied, both teams headed to overtime as the freezing cold rain continued on Wasmer Field. Neither team could get any real attack going in the second half, ending the overtime periods without a winner. For the second straight year, Saint Ignatius and Saint Edward decided the district final championship on penalty kicks.
For Saint Ignatius, underclassmen Stephen Milhoan and Hayden Parente put away their kicks, but Saint Edward came out victorious, making good on their last three penalty kicks to capture the district championship.
