Seibt's goal sends Chaminade to CHSAA state final

One of Chaminade's more underrated players has been Kory Seibt. The senior was a hero last night.

Seibt scored with 1:32 left to give the Flyers a 1-0 win over defending state champion Iona Prep in a CHSAA boys soccer state semifinal at St. John's University's Belson Stadium.

"I have had trouble scoring lately,'' Seibt said. "I was in the right place. Nick Codispoti played the ball to Mike Lobben and he played it across to me. We knew we didn't have a lot of time left."

Chaminade (17-1-3), ranked ninth nationally in the FAB 50 ESPN RISE rankings, will play St. Francis Prep (16-2), which defeated Canisius, 1-0, in the other semifinal, at 3 p.m. Saturday at Belson Stadium.

Only 1:03 before Seibt's goal, defender Tom Roulis saved the day by making a save on a shot by Alem Pelincovic.

"I saw [goalkeeper] Ricky [Berotti] coming out and I think he lost the ball in the lights,'' Roulis said. "It went over his hands and I cleared it off the line.''

Chaminade defeated Iona Prep (12-4-5), 3-0, on Sept. 19 with all the goals in the second half. Iona Prep was missing a key part of its team, however. Goalkeeper Alex Kapp, a member of the United States Under-17 National Team, wasn't in the net because of a broken wrist.

"It was a big difference with him playing,'' Roulis said. "He's a great goalkeeper. His punts made us push back.''

Kapp made 10 saves and Chaminade's Berotti made five.

Iona Prep had its best scoring chance 7:36 into the game, when Pelincovic blasted a shot and Berotti made a diving save toward his right. Less than five minutes later, Iona had a corner kick that Berotti intercepted.

Chaminade had a chance to break through but Giovanni LoMonaco's shot went wide right. One minute later, LoMonaco had another chance in front of the net and his header went wide. The Flyers had another chance in the 65th minute, when John O'Hanlon sent a cross in front of the net but no one was there.

Pedro Vilaca sent a shot wide left three minutes later as the Flyers continued to attack.

The Flyers had the better of play, but Kapp was very aggressive and came out to thwart a few chances.

Chaminade's defense has been extremely stingy, allowing only four goals all season. Much of the success has been centered around Berotti, and the Dartmouth-bound Roulis and Northeastern-bound Mike Lobben.

Roulis scored in the final minute to defeat St. Anthony's, 1-0, Saturday to give the Flyers their third Long Island CHSAA crown in five seasons. They will aim for their fourth state championship Saturday.