Petrallia brothers lead St. Anthony's soccer win
St. Anthony's Fabrizio Petrallia and St. John the Baptist's Nicolas Colon go up for a header in the CHSAA high school soccer game. (Oct. 12, 2010) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Two goals are usually more than enough for the St. Anthony's boys soccer team, especially at home. That wasn't the case Tuesday as a shorthanded, young St. John the Baptist team was aiming for its second upset of a nationally ranked opponent on the road this season.
Brothers Fabrizio and Sergio Petrallia ensured it didn't happen, scoring goals in the final 23:44 to lift St. Anthony's past St. John the Baptist, 4-2, in CHSAA boys soccer.
St. Anthony's (9-1-2, 6-0-1), ranked No. 12 nationally in the ESPN FAB 50 rankings, led 2-0 before SJB tied the score at 2. Fabrizio gave the Friars the lead with 23:44 left in the game.
"I was sitting on top of the 18 and the ball came out," Fabrizio Petrallia said. "I saw the goalie out and tried to chip it over him. It was nerve-racking, but once we calmed down we played St. Anthony's soccer."
Sergio added a goal with 13:25 left.
"We were on the bench talking how unlikely it was for us to blow the lead," Sergio said. "It's an eye-opener. It's good we came up with the win."
Colin Volpe scored in the fourth minute and Andrew LoManto made it 2-0 with 2:30 left in the first half for the Friars.
James Manton scored on a header off a corner kick from Michael Mosher with 35:30 left in the game and Nicholas Colon scored four minutes later to tie it at 2 for SJB (5-5, 5-2).
"We wanted to play simple soccer for these younger guys," SJB coach Andrew Herr said. "It created more opportunities and set plays. St. Anthony's talent and our inexperience in the back line led to the two last goals. They're a senior-laden team and unbelievably talented."
The Cougars, who upset No. 13-ranked Chaminade on Sept. 23, started six sophomores and played without three seniors.
"They're not with us right now," Herr said. "They broke a SJB rule and administration is taking care of it. I have no idea when they'll be back. It could be tomorrow or next week."
Still, the Cougars have been a big surprise this season.
"The most important part is player development and they are getting better each day," Herr said.
It's no surprise that St. Anthony's is at the top of the CHSAA standings.
"We felt that we had the game in the bag," Volpe said. "It was a bit of a scare, but we finished strong."
