By Joseph Staszewski
Monsignor McClancy appears to have righted itself after a two-game losing streak.
The two-time defending CHSAA Class A boys’ soccer city champions have now won consecutive games after topping St. Edmund 3-1 Oct. 15 at All-American Field. Crusaders Coach Michael Sylvester thinks there have been no easy contests this season after his team went 15-1-3 last year en route to another crown.
“We have to be more consistent,” he said. “We have to keep getting better. Last two games we played very good. We just have to build on that.”
McClancy fell to unbeaten Kennedy Catholic, a league newcomer Oct. 4 and days later they were stunned by last place LaSalle. The turnaround started last week with a key 2-0 road victory against rival St. Joseph by the Sea in a rematch of last year’s title game. A comfortable win against the Eagles followed.
“We lost a lot of players, but we still have the guys to put the games away,” star striker Joey Mifsud said. “As soon as we get going, we are just going to be much better than we were in some of our previous games.”
It was the senior who got the scoring started for McClancy. He controlled a pass into the box and had it briefly knocked away by a defender. He regained control to the right of the net in time to drill a shot across the goal and into the far post in the 20th minute to give McClancy a 1-0 lead. Junior Roko Basic scored twice, once in each half, by heading in Paul Morales corner kicks.
“We bring him up from the back and he gets his head up there,” Sylvester said. “It’s a nice weapon to have.”
Basic and senior Luiz Miranda led a solid Crusaders defense in stifling the Eagles’ (3–8–0) attack. They bottled up striker Will Halstead for most of the game. He finally broke free late in the second half on a defensive miscue.
“Wherever he was on the field we were basically watching his number just to make sure,” Basic said. “You always have to keep an eye on him. He got away from us once.”
McClancy (7-2-1) wasn’t about to let its season get away from them after the consecutive losses. The two wins kept them in first place in its division and one of the favorites to take home the city title.
“We are starting to get together and we are playing well,” Basic said. “We have to continue like this if we want to make it to the championship game.”
