By Logan Puissegur
The Holy Cross Soccer team (24-3-2) won the state championship over the Lakeshore Titans (23-5-2) in penalty kicks after a brutal 110 minutes of soccer. The Tigers went in as the 1 seed and had defeated Lakeshore earlier in the year to take home the district title. Holy Cross looked exquisite in the first two rounds of the playoffs against Like Oak and Benton putting up three goals in each match. They then had to play fourth-seeded Beau Chene and home and the boys were able to mount a comeback after giving up a goal off a well-executed free kick right outside the box. The Tigers scored two goals within the final ten minutes of regulation to mount a chance to win their second title in a row.
Holy Cross’ starting line up consisted of four-year started, Thomas Dugal, as the goalie, Chad Caddiere and Camden Carroll as the center defensive backs, with the left-back being Luke Lafrance and the right-back being Nolan Heitmeier, who is a major contributor on set pieces. As for the mid-field, Ethan Garvey (Evansville College commit), Josue Fuentes, Carlos Castellanos and Andre Farnet were in charge of maintaining possession and setting up their teammates with scoring chances. Elijah Rodriguez, a junior midfielder who started in the championship game a year ago, was sidelined with a leg injury. When asked how he felt about the entire situation, he said, “It feels great that we won. Even though I didn’t get to play, I helped the team on the sideline by supporting them with advice and encouragement. I did feel quite down not being able to play in front of the big crowd, but I got over it and just supported my team in every way possible.” The last bit of the starting lineup came on the offensive side of the ball, where Ethan Carney and Sinjin Mills were put out on the wings and Eli Lafrance took on the role as the striker. The strengths are found in a combination of the center backs and goalie. Soccer is definitely a game of defense, but in the end, it is the offense that must produce the goods in order to win a match. Chad Caddiere, star center defensive back, commented on this saying, “I’ve started for three years and we are a team known for winning. Lakeshore made it tough on us, but we found a way to shut them down and win the game. It is said that offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships. I think this game proved that statement.” Holy Cross finds its best chances from throw-ins and set pieces, both of which are called in plays by the coaching staff.
The Tigers looked very impressive in the first fifteen minutes moving the ball very well to create chances at an early goal. However, the Lakeshore Titans countered HC very well and turned the tides a little with excellent possessional play for the rest of the half. Both keepers made diving saves to keep their team in it going into the last forty minutes scoreless. Lakeshore superstar, Jacob Bernard, was an absolute threat and the Tigers knew that he was Lakeshore’s best chance at winning his team a state title. As the game went into the second half, Lakeshore continued to press and keep the ball on Holy Cross’ side far more than they would have liked. After all, good defense is good offense and the Titans recognized this. In the final twenty minutes of regulation, Holy Cross began to out-hustle Lakeshore and win the “50/50” balls. This is partially due to Holy Cross’ tactics of consistent subbing and saving energy until the end. While Holy Cross did look dominant, they couldn’t find the back of the net and neither could Lakeshore. The game then went into overtime and it didn’t take long for the teams to find the net. Sophomore Sinjin Mills shot a laser past keeper Jakob Morales to give HC an edge. Lakeshore would then respond by converting excellent passes giving Jacob Bernard a left footed stroke tying the game at one. The game would then go on to finish in overtime and sudden victory “golden goal” overtime with a 1-1 score. With the draw after 110 minutes of play, the only thing left to separate the two teams was penalty kicks.
Holy Cross stepped up to the line first with senior captain, Ethan Garvey, who trained his first kick making the score 1-0. Thomas Dugal then saved Lakeshore’s shot giving the Tigers an advantage into round two. Neither team scored in the next round keeping the score at a 1-0 HC edge. Nolan Heitmeier and Jacob Bernard scored for their teams putting the game in round for with a 2-1 Holy Cross lead. Carlos Castallanos then made his attempt, making the Tiger’s magic number one for a goal or save. Thomas Dugal delivered exactly that by diving to his left, blocking Lakeshore’s shot and giving Holy Cross its second Division II title in a row! When it came time to announce the MVP of the match, no one was worthier than Thomas Dugal as he came up big each and every time they needed him to. Coach Stuart Hayers and Coach Matt Millet have done a brilliant job with the program and expect Holy Cross to a be a competitive team for years to come.