The Cardinal Spellman team celebrates Jonathan Apicella’s Golden Goal. (an rong xu)
Tom Cabrera called it a hunch, one that paid off twice during the regular season. So the Cardinal Spellman coach rolled the dice again, inserting freshman Jonathan Apicella into the match with 13 minutes left in the second half.
It paid off again in a big way as Apicella knocked in the overtime winner to lift the Pilots over St. Joseph by the Sea, 2-1, in the CHSAA Class B intersectional title game Saturday at Belson Stadium. It is Cardinal Spellman’s first ‘B’ title since 2004.
“I had a gut feeling about him,” Cabrera said. “When I put him in, he seems to do something, he makes things happen. I put him in three times and he always scores.”
Apicella didn’t know why his coach thrust him into a high-pressure situation. But he shook off the nerves and scored one of the biggest goals in Cardinal Spellman history.
“I was really nervous, but I just saw the ball coming, hit it and did what I had to do,” Apicella said.
Cory Allen, who put the Pilots in front with a screaming free kick in the 25th minute, played a ball into the box and Malik Cameron, who dominated in central midfield, took a shot. A scramble ensued in front of the net and the ball fell to Apicella to the right of the goal. He calmly volleyed in the Golden Goal five minutes into overtime and the celebration was on.
“I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. It felt amazing,” Allen said. “We all went out there and just gave him a big hug. It felt great.”
After St. Joseph by the Sea standout Ryan Gardner was called for a hand ball, Allen stepped up to take a free kick from 26 yards out. The junior defender powerfully struck the ball to the left of Sea goalkeeper John Gioeli to give Spellman (12-1-4) a 1-0 lead.
For a while it seemed Allen’s goal would hold up, especially after he cleared a shot by Frank Gioeli off the line in the 63rd minute.
But St. Joseph by the Sea (10-2-2), ranked No. 7 in the CHSAA by The Post, equalized in dramatic fashion as Gardner picked up what was left of DeFede’s saved shot and hammered the ball into the net in the 73rd minute.
“I have no complaints, no regrets,” Sea coach Bill Hunt said. “The boys left it on the field and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The Vikings seized momentum and had Spellman reeling, but couldn’t get the all-important second goal in the final seven minutes of the second half.
“I seriously thought we were going to pull it out the last couple of minutes there, but their defense did a great job, stepped up and blocked some big shots,” Gardner said. “They did their job stopping us from getting the ball in the net the last couple of minutes.”
Cardinal Spellman regrouped in the team huddle heading into overtime.
“Once they got that goal everyone decided to put their head down and I said pick your head up and we’ll come back in overtime and put it in the net,” senior goalkeeper Kieran Moran said. “We did exactly that.”
Thanks, in part, to Cabrera’s hunch.
“In this game, like any game, you have to have a little luck,” Cabrera said. “Maybe we got a little lucky today, but I’ll take it.”