Tuesday night (9/5), Saint Anthony’s Boys Varsity Soccer got the second game of their 2023 campaign underway with a non-league matchup against the Patchogue-Medford Raiders.
Following their 2-0 victory over Archbishop Molloy the prior Thursday, the Friars were now faced with a matchup against a team in prime position to be heavy contenders, if not favorites, to win the public school championship this November.
The game kicked off at 7 pm out on Cy Donnelly field, with Saint Anthony’s down Nicholas Galindo, who was subsequently replaced by Benito Calderone (2025) at right back.
Not five minutes into the game, the raiders immediately played a scarily fast and high press, and after trying to play the ball out from a corner kick, a sub-par string of back passes ended up being intercepted by a Raider, who rounded the keeper and put his side up near-immediately.
Following that early goal, the Friars were still under constant pressure and took much longer than usual to find their groove. Just before halftime, the Friars best look of the first half came from a Joe Joannou (CB, 2024) goal that was declared offsides; the Friars then went into the break down a goal for the first time since the 2021 season.
Not five minutes into the second half, a nifty turn inside the box by a Raider had him brought down face first by Joannou’s shoulder, giving Pat-Med. a chance to seal the game early. However, sophomore keeper Cole Lawrence had other ideas in mind and made a near perfect penalty save. But, where it should have stood to give the Friars momentum, this missed chance only further infuriated the Raiders, who kept Saint Anthony’s inside their own half for the next ten minutes. Once the Friars got back on offense, a goal was immediately called off once more after the keeper tapped the ball into the upright, fooling all but the referee that the ball was still in play; it would remain 1-0.
Just before the second half hydration break, a high clearance by Pat-Med got a helping deflection once it reached the ground, sending a Raider straight behind the Saint Anthony’s defensive line, before once more rounding the keeper, and doubling the lead.
20 minutes later, the game would close out 2-0, the team’s only loss by more than one goal since the 2019 season. It was the team’s largest loss since the Friars lost 3-0 away at Chaminade on October 22nd, 2019; for reference, that is 1415 days ago.
This game wasn’t a testament to Saint Anthony’s ability to play by any means, but more a testament to how much it takes to beat this squad, as well as how good Patchogue-Medford 2023 team is this early into the season.
Taking this long to finally lose by more than a goal is quite the streak, but gave several Friars the opportunity to showcase their skills. Senior Carlo Maricevic (CM, 2024) and junior Andrew Wicik (LB, 2025) each served quality shifts at both right wing and left back. Despite giving up a penalty, Joe Joannou put on display why he is easily one of the top few players on Long Island; during the second half, newcomer Andres Solano (2024) put in a high energy stint at defensive midfielder.
It was a sheer battle of want on Tuesday, and what happened that day on the field will play no effect to how this season goes. If Coach Corrao’s side can commit to showing more grit and making improvements, they can put behind their first non league scrimmage since the 2021 League Championship.
With non-league play wrapped up for another couple of weeks, the Friars seek to keep their CHSAA unbeaten streak going as they travel to take on last year’s 3-seed in St. John the Baptist at 4:00 this Thursday afternoon.
Eamon Bevan is a Senior writer in his fourth year working for Scoreboard at St. Anthony’s High School. Is involved in several clubs and ministries.
