By John Tolis
St. John’s Prep erased the memory of last season’s title game defeat.
The Red Storm left no doubt this time around with a 3-1 win against Bishop Ford in the CHSAA Class B boys’ soccer final Saturday at Fordham University.
“We had a rough season, but we played to the end and we knew we were going to get here,” St. John’s Prep Coach Pietro Asaro said. “The seniors that are going to leave, they made a big difference.”
St. John’s Prep (9-1-2) held the lead throughout the entire game. The Red Storm got out to a fast start in the 11th minute when senior Bernardo Arminio floated the ball past the Bishop Ford keeper from 22 yards out to give his club an early 1-0 lead.
St. John’s continued its onslaught on Bishop Ford (6-6-1) to start the second half. It took a 2-0 lead in the 43rd minute when Gabriel Restaino put the ball in all the way from the left corner as the ball hit off the keeper into the net.
Bishop Ford answered back two minutes later when Nigel Richards ran it up from midfield and blasted the ball in to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Falcons made a game out of it in the second half, as they got more shots on net and moved the ball around quicker.
St. John’s dimmed any chances for a Bishop Ford comeback in the 57th minute, when senior Lenin Sales gave a beautiful pass in the box to freshman Jared Daly. He calmly put the ball in the net to make the score 3-1. Despite being a man down in the 70th minute after getting a red card, St. John’s still controlled play and didn’t make any mistakes. It showed the maturity Asaro has seen grow over this three years as coach.
“They really grew up,” he said. “They listen, the seniors listen and do what they’re supposed to do.”
For the Red Storm seniors, this is the way they wanted to go out after falling last year.
“We wanted this championship more than anything,” Sales said. “Everybody has more unity, everybody wants to win.”
