Molloy’s Sam Carter (from l.), Marco Rodrigues and Gabriele Maurello celebrate Carter’s goal in the first half. (Charles Wenzelberg)
The Archbishop Molloy players and coaches gathered together in a circle near midfield for a prayer. That’s become a custom after practices and games over the last 10 days, since junior defender Justin Thompson was shot in the back leaving a party Oct. 21 and was left paralyzed from the waist down.
“Win or lose, we’re fortunate to be here and to be able to play,” Stanners coach Andy Kostel said he told his players. “Even if you’re not playing, [you’re fortunate] to be able to be out on the field. That’s not true with Justin.”
Wearing armbands with the colors of the Jamaican flag and with a Jamaican national team jersey hanging on the bench where Thompson would have sat, Molloy defeated Holy Cross, 4-2, in the CHSAA Class AA boys soccer intersectional quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon at SUNY Maritime in The Bronx.
Thompson is of Jamaican descent and his teammates always tease him about its national team’s lack of success. Thompson, a jokester, chose the Jamaican armbands when Kostel asked him what the team can wear for him during the game. The main thing he wanted, though, was a victory. Molloy will meet Fordham Prep in the semifinals 6 p.m. Friday night at St. John’s University’s Belson Stadium.
“It made me feel good,” Thompson told The Post via phone Tuesday night. “It made me feel like they were playing for me.”
Thompson’s father, Donald, left his son’s bedside and sat in the bleachers to watch the match. Donald addressed the players afterward and told them their support has been touching. He said when the entire team visited Thompson at Cohen’s Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park, L.I, on Sunday, it brought the nurses to tears.
“The Molloy family has just been overwhelmingly supportive,” said Donald, whose son also plays basketball at the school. “It’s just been unreal. … Sometimes you do feel like you want to break down and then the phone rings, and it’s someone saying, ‘We’re here, we understand.’ It’s just giving us hope.”
The players were given a boost by the visit almost as much as Thompson was. Surgery last week removed the bullet and showed that the spine was not punctured, only bruised. Thompson, who has been in good spirits since Day One, has begun to feel sensations in his legs.
“A lot of people were nervous what I was gonna look like,” Thompson said of Sunday’s visit. “It was like a relief when they saw me. I laughed and joked. It made them do the same. That’s what I want. I want everybody to feel the same, too.”
Molloy (8-3-5) attempted to get back to normal Tuesday. Mike Rodriguez scored on a 28-yard set piece past Julian Ceko in the 53rd minute after assisting on Sammy Carter’s goal in the 39th minute. Robbie Lago got Holy Cross (2-13-2) within 2-1 in the 57th minute and then was taken down in the box to set up Anthony DiMaggio’s penalty kick in the 76th minute that made it 3-2. Nick Matusewicz scored in 72nd minute for Molloy and Denes Kostel sealed it with a penalty kick with 6.3 seconds left.
“He wants to win just as much as anybody else,” Rodriguez said of Thompson. “It’s motivation for us. He needs us to do this for him. It’s gonna take his mind off things. It’s needed for him.”
Doctors are cautiously optimistic about Thompson’s future. He’ll be moved to Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains this week.
“[Monday] night I said to him, ‘The pressure’s somewhat on us to win for you,’” Kostel said. “I said, ‘Wow the pressure is on you to win for yourself.’”