Sacred Heart ends six-year losing streak to St. Anthony's

For reasons unbeknownst to the Sacred Heart girls soccer team, this game felt different.

The Spartans play St. Anthony’s twice a year during the regular season – and oftentimes once more in the playoffs. But nearly every matchup ends the same for Sacred Heart. A hard-fought loss, maybe with some opportunities for a break or two to turn in its way for a victory.

Not this time.

The Spartans players felt this season’s final matchup would be different. They were correct, as they defeated St. Anthony’s, 3-2, on Monday in their last regular-season matchup of the year.

“For some reason we all had a really weird feeling going into the game,” defender Julianna Bivona said. “We were all very energetic and working hard in practice all week and we just all felt it. It was going to be different.”

Bivona had two goals in the victory, handing St. Anthony’s its first league loss since 2015.

It was Sacred Heart’s first victory over St. Anthony’s since 2016, when the Spartans won the CHSAA Class AA final in penalty kicks.

“They’ve always had this energy and aura about them,” Bivona said. “You knew St. Anthony’s before you played them and you knew they’d be a tough team. Coming on the team my freshman year, I knew St. Anthony’s was the team to beat, so knowing that and beating them after so many years of an undefeated league season was really cool. It’s something I will never forget to say that it happened and know that we ended it.”

Coach Peter Bralower said players often come through Sacred Heart and never defeat St. Anthony’s over their four years. Despite consistent success in the CHSAA and against many of the top programs on Long Island, St. Anthony’s, winners of the last four state CHSAA titles, has always haunted the Spartans.

“They appreciate St. Anthony’s as the standard of excellence and that’s a team we measure ourselves against,” Bralower said. “And a lot of my classes go through four years without getting the result, so getting a result against them is a big thing for us.”

St. Anthony’s struck first Monday, but Sacred Heart scored three goals over the final 20 minutes of the opening half. Bivona scored the tying and go-ahead goal.

“We went down 1-0 and usually our heads go down after being down 1-0 to them,” Bralower said. “But we responded in the next 20 minutes with three goals.”

It also provides Sacred Heart additional confidence heading into the playoffs. Sacred Heart (10-3-1) plays Kellenberg in the semifinals on Friday. In all likelihood, a victory there would mean another meeting with St. Anthony’s in the final.

“This was an opportunity to show them how far we’ve come, especially from previous years,” Bivona said. “Losing to them in the finals and losing the first time then coming back and winning 3-2, for future games, it just shows we are able to compete with them and that we are good enough to keep up.”