By Dylan Butler
Franco Purificato is no stranger to the St. Francis Prep-Holy Cross soccer rivalry. The St. Francis Prep coach experienced it on the field as a player from 1990 to 1994, as the junior varsity coach from 1995 to 1999 and as the varsity head coach for the past two years.
And with few exceptions, Purificato has seen St. Francis Prep not only play second fiddle to Holy Cross, but to Queens rival Archbishop Molloy as well.
But in Tuesday’s latest installment of the Battle of the Boulevard, Purificato finally saw the Terriers play with emotion in a 1-1 tie with Holy Cross Tuesday afternoon.
“I’ve been here eight years. It’s frustrating to always finish third,” Purificato said. “We have the team now. I think they finally realize it.”
St. Francis Prep senior Peter Pavlakos has also had enough of losing to the Knights and told his team so before the game. As one of 12 seniors, he urged the Terriers to play with heart against Holy Cross and the team responded.
Pavlakos then led by example on the field, stepping in for starter Michael Nicolosi, who sprained his ankle two weeks ago against Ione Prep, and moving back from central midfield to anchor the defense.
And just six minutes into the game, Pavlakos put St. Francis Prep (5-2-2, 3-1-1 CHSAA) ahead, as the Whitestone native slipped a free kick over Holy Cross keeper Daniel Cinelli and inside the far post from 19 yards out.
“I remember [Cinelli] from last year and he has a tendency to come off his line,” Pavlakos said. “I put a little curve on the ball towards the back post. He came off his line and he couldn’t do anything about it.”
Holy Cross (6-2-1, 3-1-1) attempted to push forward for the equalizer, but led by Pavlakos, the Terriers answered with an offside trap that frustrated the Knights, who were caught offside eight times in the first half.
Holy Cross tied the game in the 46th minute on a less than perfect free kick by senior midfielder Tamer Mohamed, whose low shot from 20 yards out deflected off St. Francis Prep keeper Nick Caputi.
“I got really lucky. It went inside the bottom right corner and I didn’t even aim it there,” he said. “It was unlucky for the goalie, maybe it was a lucky bounce for us.”
It looked like Mohamed would get a golden chance to net the game-winner when it appeared he was taken down in the box late in the second half. But the referee didn’t call a foul.
“The referee allowed the teams to play and it destroyed a lot of things for both teams,” said Holy Cross coach Dom Cinelli. “Some of the calls he made just didn’t exist. At the high school varsity level this should not happen.”
“I felt it was a penalty, but it was a tough call, I guess,” Mohamed said. “The referee didn’t see it that way. It happens. But it’s not the referee’s fault we didn’t win. We didn’t finish our opportunities.”
St. Francis Prep had a couple of chances to win the game in overtime, when striker Chris Belac was stopped by Cinelli twice, but will have to wait until Oct. 15, for another chance at the Knights.
“I haven’t beaten Holy Cross since I’ve been at Prep,” said senior defender Mark Martello. “I’d like to beat them at least once before I graduate.”
Archbishop Molloy 3, Holy Cross 0. The Stanners got two goals from Gabriel Ortega and one from Peter Destodopolous on Sept. 24. Michael Testa got the shutout.
Archbishop Molloy 0, Kellenberg 0. Testa was in net the entire game, earning his second straight shutout in this non-league tie. Molloy improved to 5-1-3 overall.
St. Francis Prep 7, Xavier 1. Chris Belac scored a hat trick for the Terriers, raising his total to 11 on the year.
Holy Cross – Xavier. Head coach Dominick Cinelli said his team won by forfeit on Sept. 25 after Xavier arrived more than an hour after the scheduled start of the game
St. John’s Prep 4, Bishop Ford 0. Ferney Ruiz scored two, while Sebastian Garcia and Ryan Reyes added one apiece. Christopher Clarke earned the shutout in net Monday afternoon. St. John’s Prep improved to 3-0 in league action with the win.
St. John’s Prep 9, Cathedral Prep 1. The Red Storm picked up its second league win Sept. 25 by blowing out the Crusaders.
Christ the King 4, St. Edmund 2. Kayode Sodeinde scored the first goal for CK and the second to put the Royals up 2-1. Woyciech Grzesik scored the third and the final was put home by Tonna Egbuchubunam. CK is now 4-0 in league play.
Christ the King 5, Bishop Ford 0. Egbuchubunam scored the first two goals of the game, while Mike Loureiro, Chris Hejzyk and Sodeinde had one apiece. Freshman keeper Lukas Sacilowski got the shutout.
Christ the King 3, Monsignor McClancy 1. Filippo Rappa, Michael Alessi scored on a header for the second off a direct kick by Rappa and Egbuchubunam scored the last for the winners. Adam Brunengo scored the lone goal for the Crusaders, now 1-1 in league play.
— Anthony Bosco contributed to this story
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
