St. Anthony's, Chaminade play to scoreless tie
Chaminade's Thomas Roulis heads ball in a 0-0 tie. (Oct. 21, 2010) Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Chaminade's Ricky Berotti didn't have to work too hard in between the pipes during yesterday's boys soccer game against visiting St. Anthony's.
The biggest challenge Berotti faced came in the 88th minute, when he leaped into the air to play a ball in the box and landed on top of John Ugar from St. Anthony's, toppling each player to the ground.
"I saw a very high bounce and I knew it went over my defenders head and I knew I had to go up there and win that ball," Berotti said. "I wanted it and I knew if I got that ball I could quickly distribute up the field and help us out."
Berotti made four saves for Chaminade (12-1-3, 7-1-2) and Anthony Lopatowski made five saves for St. Anthony's (12-1-3, 9-0-2) as the nationally-ranked soccer powerhouses played to a scoreless tie in a CHSAA game.
The Friars are No. 11 and the Flyers are No. 12 in the ESPN FAB 50 rankings.
"You're happy that you don't drop three points but you're also a little frustrated that you only get one out of it," Chaminade coach Mike Gallagher said. "You want to try to steal one, especially on your home field."
Seeing zeros on the scoreboard has become the norm when the Flyers and Friars get together:
The teams have scored a combined three goals in their last five meetings dating back to last season.
An energetic Chaminade student section chanted and cheered as the teams battled all game long for possession of the ball.
"In most of these games because of the quality of play, one goal decides it and usually mistakes decide it," Gallagher said. "They didn't make a lot of mistakes and we didn't make a lot of mistakes, so neither team scored a goal."
Lopatowski, who posted his seventh shutout of the season for the Friars, disappointed the raucous home fans whenever it looked like the Flyers were about to score.
Lopatowski has not allowed a goal this season and has split time in net with Stephen Singson in nine games.
"Club teams don't compare to this," Lopatowski said. "The intensity every game - it's all about getting to the league championship and then the states."
He added: "I wish we would've [won], but it feels great to get a shutout."
