Gaels Punch Ticket To Finals

By: Marco Romanell

The second-seeded Mount St. Joseph boys soccer team denied third-seeded Gilman's upset bid in the MIAA A Conference semifinals, shutting out the Greyhounds, 1-0, to earn a trip to the Nov. 10 championship game at Johns Hopkins University.

The Gaels came out the gates firing early when Dave Arnold volleyed a shot off a cross, forcing a big save from Gilman keeper Christian Hall. The best chance of the first half came from the Greyhounds best player Greg McBride. In the 34th minute, McBride ran through the Mount St. Joe defense and cracked a shot that looked destined for the goal. Mount St. Joe keeper Brad Benzing back-pedaled and was able to punch the ball over the crossbar to preserve the scoreless tie going into halftime.

The start of the second half proved pivotal and decided the game. Mount St. Joe freshman Jalen Robinson pounced on a rebound that got away from the Gilman goalie, composed himself and put the ball in for a 1-0 lead.

“Coach always tells us to follow shots,” Robinson said. “As soon as I saw the ball that’s what I did. I told my parents I wanted to get the first goal on the field and the last goal."

Coach Mike St Martin could not understate Robinson’s importance.

"We are lucky to have Jalen,” he said. “He is athletic, composed, a great player and an even better person and we hope to have him all four years.”

Gilman countered with their own superstar in McBride, who was all over the field for the Greyhounds. The Gaels knew they had to stop McBride and they made sure to pressure him every time he got the ball. McBride was able to capitalize by getting his teammates involved. Fellow senior Cooper Brown received a ball from McBride, hooked a defender and hit a shot from the top of the box that sailed just over the crossbar.

Mount St. Joe almost put the game away twice later in the half as Christian Macari volleyed a ball from 35 yards out that screamed just by the upper right corner in the 61st minute. Two minutes later, Marco Caltabiano collected a through ball from Dave Arnold at the penalty spot and took a dribble and shot the ball just over the bar.

Brad Benzing came up big in the Gaels' net. In the 66th minute, he stopped a McBride header and in the 71st minute, he pulled a ball out of the air in between two Gilman players to preserve the win.

***

The Gaels and Greyhounds took different paths to their meeting in the MIAA A Conference soccer semifinals. Gilman was a top-5 team all season and many predicted an upset victory over McDonogh.

“This is the greatest team that Gilman has ever had” said Greyhounds coach John Seal.

But Seal's team struggled down the stretch and fell to the No. 3 seed, losing home-field advantage in the semis.

A young Mount St. Joe team got off to a great start this season, upsetting Loyola and Archbishop Curley. The Gaels climbed to No. 2 in the polls and looked to be a major factor in the MIAA before losing three straight game to put their record at 7-6 midway through the season. That's when coach Mike St. Martin saw his team turn the corner.

“This team had not played club together and I told them before the season we would need to learn how to play together,” St. Martin said. “That came through halfway through the season and led us here today.”

Gilman was an afterthought in soccer when Coach John Seal took over five seasons ago, but not anymore.

“We put our program on the map last season, this season was our arrival," Seal said. "We had to play this season as the hunted.

“I told my boys we had nothing to be disappointed about. This was a celebration of Gilman soccer."

Posted Nov. 6, 2008