Regis’s Devin Pierre and Xavier’s Trystan Montero struggle for possession. (William Thomas)
From a standing perspective, the game was meaningless to Xavier. The Knights were locked into the fourth spot in the CHSAA Archdiocesan division coming in. Regis, on the other hand, had a lot to play for – with some help, the Raiders could have potentially finished first in the division.
Xavier was not about to let that happen, not against its biggest rival.
“We had a meaningful purpose to the game and they could have rested their guys and not got them hurt for the playoffs,” Regis coach Vinny Catapano said. “But you know what? Xavier-Regis – in any sport – is an event.”
The last time the two teams met, they almost came to blows in the postgame handshake line. This time, they played to a hard-fought, well-played 3-3 draw in CHSAA Class AA intersectional boys soccer Thursday on Randall’s Island.
Xavier (6-5-4) didn’t earn the victory, but it did spoil its rival’s chances of moving up in the division standings. Regis (7-2-5) is now locked into that third spot with Fordham Prep and Iona Prep both playing to draws Thursday. The Knights also slightly erased the memory of getting routed Tuesday by Fordham Prep, 6-1.
“It’s definitely a big rivalry,” Xavier junior Dan Gresser said. “And from that last game [Tuesday] we needed to get a win. It didn’t happen, but we’ll take a tie.”
In the fourth minute, Xavier got off early as Matthew De La Ossa’s header beat Joe Pollicino. Regis would answer back, though – every single time Xavier scored, in fact.
In the seventh minute, Ryan McLaughlin was taken down in the box, setting up a penalty kick that Devin Pierre converted past James Kondrat. Gresser ripped a goal past Pollicino from 18 yards seven minutes later to send Xavier into the half up 2-1.
But McLaughlin tucked a header from Will Salter neatly into the bottom right hand corner in the 48th minute to equalize again. Gresser scored in the 53rd minute from Jack Kane and Pierre had another penalty kick in the 59th on a questionable foul that Xavier coach Joe Balsamo vehemently protested.
Had Regis not been playing catch up the entire game, Pierre said, things might have been different.
“Momentum is a huge thing in soccer,” the highly touted junior midfielder said. “It can really change the game. If we put that first one in, they’re on that losing streak, so they’re thinking another loss and we’re thinking another win. But it didn’t happen that way.”
Regis will meet Christ the King on Friday in what is essentially a meaningless match. The Raiders had a chance to move up a spot in the Archdiocese, which would have earned them a berth in the Archdiocesan tournament. The winner of that goes to states. Now Regis will have to win the intersectional title to do that.
“You don’t have that backup option once you get to the intersectional,” Catapano said. “It’s either win or you’re done.”
Xavier will now host St. Peter’s in the intersectional first round Wednesday at Aviator. Knights coach Joe Balsamo told his players before the game Thursday that they might not have a chance for first place, but they do have a very good chance in the playoffs – especially if they continue playing well, with the exception of that Fordham loss.
“I’ve learned that when you play good soccer,” Balsamo said, “in the long run you’re going to win.”