CHSAA SOCCER FINAL
Holy Cross 1
Molloy 0
James DiGiacomo felt responsible for the season-ending losses the last two years for Holy Cross.
“Both times, I blew it,” the senior goalkeeper said. “The third time was the charm.”
DiGiacomo made a pair of superb saves, the most impressive coming in the match’s 73rd minute, when Molloy’s George Despotopoulos took a shot from 10 yards out and DiGiacomo made a diving save.
The effort preserved the one-goal lead that was provided by Alex Schweitzer and helped give the Knights a 1-0 win over Molloy yesterday in the CHSAA City Final at Belson Field at St. John’s.
“It was a perfect ball,” said DiGiacomo of his last save, which he painfully made because of a hip injury he suffered last week. “It hurt a lot on that play, but it was worth it.”
The victory moves Holy Cross into this week’s Catholic state finals and allowed the team to put last year’s 3-0 City Final loss to Molloy behind it.
“That’s all I thought about this week,” said DiGiacomo, who wants to play in the Ivy League next year and has applied for early admission to Harvard. “It took a long time to get over last year. I felt I let my teammates down. I really feel like I redeemed myself.”
Schweitzer’s goal came in the 26th minute, when he scored from 12 yards out off a deflection.
“I thought it was going in and when it did, I really thought we were going to win,” said the junior, who had to be helped off the field eight minutes later with an injured right ankle. He didn’t return.
“Even though I wasn’t out there, with the way the defensewas playing, I thought it would be enough.” he said.
He was right, thanks to DiGiacomo.
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St. Joseph by the Sea nearly pulled off the biggest grid upset in the CHSFL this year, but St. Anthony’s QB Chris Eanuzel scored a game-winning 12-yard run with 1:30 left in the fourth quarter to help give the Friars a 49-42 victory.
Teammate Chris Fumai sealed the win with an interception in the end zone in the game’s final seconds.
St. Anthony’s (8-1, 8-0 in the league) secured the top spot in the CHSFL AAA playoffs, which begin next week.
Holy Cross finished its regular season with a 62-26 win over Chaminade.
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