Raffa helps St. Anthony's earn 'AAA' title

Considering he had just recovered from a fractured jaw, a concussion and a split nose, St. Anthony's senior midfielder Charlie Raffa looked pretty good.

Felt pretty good, too.

"What a great feeling. Especially for the seniors, to go out with this championship,'' Raffa said after scoring two unassisted goals and contributing on faceoffs and ground balls as the Friars defeated Chaminade, 12-10, last night at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium to win their third consecutive state and Long Island Class AAA CHSAA championship.

"I knew it would be rough coming back after not playing,'' said Raffa, whose faceoff skills will take him to current NCAA semifinalist Maryland next year. "I was a little out of shape, so coach ran me after practice.''

Raffa suffered the concussion and fractured jaw against Darien (Conn.) April 27 and missed five games, including the second one against Chaminade, a 9-7 Flyers victory. He returned against Fairfield (Conn.) Prep on May 18, only to leave in the first quarter with the split nose.

His teammates helped make it a painful finale for Chaminade (15-3), which won both regular-season meetings. But St. Anthony's (14-3) "played hard for all four quarters for the first time all season,'' according to coach Keith Wieczorek.

St. Anthony's grabbed a 4-1 first-quarter lead on two goals each by Christian Bennard and Sean McDonagh. At 5-2 in the second quarter, the Flyers looked flat. But it's not in their DNA to go quietly, and they sure did not. Goals by Sean Mahon, Matt Clarkson and Matt Kavanagh tied it at 5 with 1:34 left before halftime.

St. Anthony's Joe LoCascio scored on an unassisted low blast with 3 seconds left for a 6-5 halftime lead. He stuck in another dagger with 14 seconds left in the third after a great fake to put the Friars ahead 8-7 entering the last quarter.

Brendan Conroy (off a faceoff win), Matt Chanenchuk and Raffa scored consecutive goals in 3:44 early in the fourth for an 11-7 lead that proved too much for the Flyers to overcome.

"We all pointed to May 26. We wanted a three-peat,'' said defenseman Greg Danseglio, who made Kavanagh work for his four goals. "It was always in our minds that we couldn't lose three to Chaminade. Charlie came back and was a big producer for us.''

Wieczorek selected Raffa as the game's MVP, "for giving us some depth and some juice.'' Then, wiping his Gatorade-soaked head, he said with a grin, "The two goals helped, too.''