No repeat for St. John's Prep

Twice Steven Reyes had a clear shot in the box to put St. John's Prep ahead. Twice, however, the senior forward's strikes were repelled.
It was that kind of evening for the entire Red Storm, who failed to repeat as CHSAA Class B champions Sunday evening at St. John's University's Belson Stadium, dropping a 2-0 decision to St. Peter's of Staten Island.
&#8220I couldn't finish,” Reyes said. &#8220I let us down. I did badly. I could've done more to help us win a championship.”
The loss marked the second time in three years St. John's Prep had reached the title game but fell short. &#8220I think these young men were a championship team and they will always be a championship team to me,” first-year coach Fabian Chong said. &#8220I feel we should've won. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of what they did.”
St. Peter's dominated the early going. The Eagles nearly jumped out first in the fourth minute on Morgan Glussi’s header that caromed off the crossbar and K.J. Smith’s point blank attempt, which was saved by Red Storm (9-2-2) keeper Scott Avendano. St. John's Prep almost got the go-ahead goal themselves in the 24th minute, when Reyes broke into the clear in the right side of the box. But St. Peter's goalie Chris Siebel deflected the shot wide.
&#8220I knew he was going far post,” Siebel said, &#8220and I got my hand out there.”
Just after intermission, Reyes found himself at the doorstep once again, but Siebel, coming off his line, was there to body-block the shot out of the box. &#8220He cut off the right angle,” Reyes said, &#8220he's a good keeper.”
&#8220He's a finisher,” Chong said of Reyes. &#8220He's a great player, great scorer. The kid just made some good saves.”
The two saves turned the game's momentum and St. Peter's finally got on the board when sophomore Cemil Turan scored off a Raffaele Ruggiero through ball in the 59th minute. Turan struck again for his 25th tally of the season on a feed from Glussi as the Eagles won their first CHSAA B title since 1998.