CHAMINADE 8, ST. ANTHONY’S 3

It’s worth the wait
After having trouble finding net, Flyers get seven in a row for title
BY BILL KING
STAFF WRITER

May 25, 2005

It might have taken the better part of three quarters, but the Chaminade boys lacrosse team was finally able to finish. For 34 frustrating minutes, it was near goal after near goal for the top-seeded Flyers.

But from the moment attackman Brendan Gibson intercepted an errant clearing pass 20 yards from the goal with three minutes left in the third quarter and Chaminade trailing by two to No. 2 St. Anthony's, the momentum shifted.

Like a brewing volcano that finally erupted, Chaminade closed with seven goals in an 11-minute span to win 8-3 and claim the CHSAA Class AA title in a steady rain before 1,200 last night at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium.

Gibson sparked the comeback by scoring the first of his three goals with 2:32 left in the third quarter. Gibson picked off the pass and found a wide-open James Rooney in front of net. After St. Anthony's goalie Mike Borrero blocked Rooney's point-blank shot, John-Thomas Milone picked up the rebound and found Gibson, who scored to cut Chaminade's deficit to 3-2.

Then the floodgates opened. Geery Grant scored from 15 yards to tie it 39 seconds into the fourth. Gibson scored unassisted 1:16 later to give Chaminade its first lead. Rich Sgalardi's 10-yard blast extended the lead to 5-3, and Gibson, Regis McDermott and Doug Buckley each tacked on goals to complete the scoring.

"This is what our team worked hard all year for," Gibson said. "That's been the story, with [St. Anthony's] all year. We were down early, fought back hard and took the game."

Chaminade (18-2) defeated the two-time defending champ for the third time this season, posting a 9-8 victory on May 5 and a 7-6 decision on April 5. The teams also met in last year's final. Collectively, the two programs have won every CHSAA title since 1987, with St. Anthony's taking 10 in that span.

"In the second half, we committed to working hard off the ball, and we found some people open," Chaminade coach Jack Moran said. "We had five or six good looks, and we finished them all."

Senior attackman Mike Karwoski scored two unassisted first-quarter goals as St. Anthony's (14-5) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Chaminade had plenty of scoring chances before attackman Colin Tigh trickled a shot past Borrero to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 2:43 left in the second quarter.

Seven first-half shots sailed just wide for Chaminade, which also had two goals erased because of offsides infractions. Borrero (10 saves) made several spectacular stops to keep St. Anthony's ahead.

James Harrison made 15 saves for Chaminade.