LoCasio, Schreiber lead St. Anthony's past Chaminade

Tight defense, loose cannons.

That was the tactic taken by St. Anthony's last night as it resorted to launching rockets from the perimeter to offset Chaminade's impenetrable interior defense. The host Friars had just enough firepower to defeat the Flyers, 8-6, in front of 1,800 in a matchup of CHSAA powers that have handed each other their only league losses of the season. Both teams are 8-1 and expect to meet for a third time in the league title game at C.W. Post on May 27.

"A classic rivalry," St. Anthony's coach Keith Wieczorek said. "We needed this one for our kids to completely wash the taste of the last loss out of their mouths."

To do that, the Friars had to think outside the box. "It's impossible to get inside against their defense," Wieczorek said.

So St. Anthony's unleashed the cannons. Joe LoCasio ripped home two long shots in the first three minutes for a 2-0 lead. Tom Schreiber drilled two lasers from deep, one of which provided a 6-2 halftime lead.

When Chaminade clawed to within 6-4, Ryan Munnelly scored a long-range goal while being checked to the turf to restore a three-goal lead. The clincher came on the second of Colin Clive's goals, a rare conversion of a feed to the crease from Schreiber.

"Every game against Chaminade is huge. It's emotional; everyone is enthusiastic and jumping around. It's a lot more fun than other games," the Princeton-bound Schreiber said. "We know each other so well that we had to tweak our offense and take more outside shots."

SEE PHOTOSSt Anthony's 8, Chaminade 6

St. Anthony's also played tight defense, but Shane Thornton twice cut the deficit to two goals in the second half, the last time at 7-5 early in the fourth quarter. But Colin's goal rendered Matt Kavanagh's second of the game with 32 seconds left essentially meaningless.

Friars goalie Ken Carpenter was sharp, making 14 saves, including a couple of big ones when it was a two-goal game. "We tried to limit their inside shots and the team had confidence in me to stop the outside shots," Carpenter said.

Chaminade wasn't as successful, thanks to LoCasio and Co. "They packed it in on defense and tried to lock off Tommy Schreiber," LoCasio said. "But we work on shooting every day in practice. I take 150 shots a day from 10 to 15 yards out. Those shots are like dessert."

That's why victory was sweet for the Friars. "Off the field, most of us are good friends," LoCasio said. "But on the field, it's a completely different attitude. It's hard-hitting. It's red against gold and we circle the dates on our calendars."

SEE PHOTOSHigh school sports -- May

Score one for the gold standard.